The Schoolgirl
by shad0w0w0lf
Summary: There are many jobs in the world. Some of which are dangerous, or fun or just plain boring. What life does a waiter lead? When Rin and her best friend Miku meets the newbie waiter - the cute boy every girl is talking about in a way - what lies in wait for the two girls? Just remember: everyone has secrets.
1. The Schoolgirl and the Waiter

So, this is my first story / chapter. And, I hope it's ok.

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha. Not me, unfortunately.

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The Schoolgirl and the Waiter

"Rin! Pay attention!"

Snapping out of her daydream, the blonde girl turned uninterested blue eyes towards her teacher. She let out a bored sigh and replied, "Sorry, Miss." Of course, she wasn't sorry.

Once the teacher had gone back to droning on and on and _on _about some thing or other, Rin returned her attention to the outside world. She felt glad that her seat was right beside the window. Her head resting on her desk, and the white ribbon in her hair drooping, she began to think about how dull and boring life trapped in school was.

_One day, _Rin thought, _one day, I'll find myself a Prince Charming and then we can run away together… on a white horse of course._ She blushed slightly, and giggled to herself. All fourteen year old girls nowadays can only think about finding her perfect boy.

After hours more of torture in the classrooms, it was finally time to go home. Rin met with some other of her friends by the school gates. And, like all girls, started chatting animatedly to each other, gossiping and whatnot.

"Apparently," a girl with blue-tinged hair began, "there's this café down the street and –"

"So what?" butted in another.

"There are _loads_ of cafés!" yapped a third.

"Let me continue!" shouted the blue-haired girl. "As I was saying. This café. Apparently, there's this really cute guy working there. They say he's a newbie."

The other girls sniggered.

"Miku, your idea of cute is _so not_ cute," laughed the girl who had butted in before.

Angry and annoyed, Miku pouted and turned away. Grabbing Rin by the arm, Miku dragged the small blonde with her as she stormed off in a huff. Taken by surprise, Rin could do nothing but go along with her best friend as they hurried down the crowded streets. Some minutes of brisk walking later, the schoolgirl duo stopped in front of a little café on the corner of a street.

"There. That's the one," said Miku, a tinge of triumph in her voice.

"S-so, what now? Are we meant to go in or something?" asked Rin. For some reason, she was feeling nervous. She wondered why. Was it the thought of meeting this boy? It… it couldn't be.

"Of course we go in!" And with that, Miku opened the doors of the café and the two went in.

The strong aroma of coffee hit them almost immediately, followed by a delicious scent of chocolate muffins, cakes and freshly-baked biscuits. Both the girls were taken aback by the homeliness of the café and the wonderfully simple interior design. With small tables, a few sofas and chairs here and there, it was the cutest, little café they had ever set foot in.

Finding a table and sitting down, Rin then asked, "What's the plan?"

"What? What do you mean?" said Miku. "What plan?"

"You know," Rin explained, rather patronisingly, "how are we meant to meet this –"

There was no need to finish her sentence as, just then, a boy, not much older than the two girls themselves, came to their table and hesitantly asked, "H-how can I help?"

His nervous eyes were a clear blue colour – like the sky on a sunny day – and his short, blond hair was spiky and messy. His expression was somewhat flustered and he looked as if he had not much of an idea as to what to do. He barely looked the two girls in the eye. Actually, he didn't even dare look at them. All the time, he just stared uneasily at the floor, twiddling with his pen and the paper notepad he had.

Rin stared at Miku. Miku stared at Rin. Slowly, they both smiled. Bingo. They had their boy.

"I'll have a cake, please," said Rin.

"Me too," added Miku.

Sheepishly the boy stammered, "U-um… wh-what type of cake would you like? We… we have a couple of different ones…"

"Surprise us," grinned the two girls simultaneously.

Glancing around the café, the boy seemed at a loss of what to do when faced with such a request. He just nodded and sped off.

Miku turned to face Rin and the two high-fived each other, their excitement obvious in their energetic smiles. They didn't even have to speak, but they clearly knew what the other was thinking. Or did they?

Rin's heart was beating. Miku's heart was pounding. They both fell for the cute buy the first moment they laid eyes on him. Did Miku know Rin was feeling what she felt right now? Did Rin know? And things get messy when two girls fight over one boy. Things get complicated when people hide secrets from each other. Especially best friends. And one person in the café knew just exactly how funnily chaotic things could get.

Before long, the newbie waiter boy was standing beside their table, and he put down a plate in front of each girl: one chocolate cake and one strawberry. He blinked a few times before muttering, "P-please… enjoy," and promptly left.

The two girls also quickly ate their cakes, before splitting the cost between them and leaving. As soon as they were well out of the sight of the café, Miku exclaimed, "Yes! That had to be him!"

Rin nodded in agreement, as she watched her friend jump up and down, Miku's blue twin tails flying up and down to the rhythm of the jumps.

Suddenly, Miku stopped. She turned to Rin, an expression of panic on her face.

"Did you get his name?" she shouted, shaking Rin by the shoulders, the force even shaking Rin's bow on her hairband. "Did you get his name? His name! What was his name? Please tell me you did! Please, please, please, Rin!"

Taken aback with surprise, it took Rin a moment before she remembered the boy's name. It was on his name tag and, of course, hot-headed Miku wouldn't have noticed.

Rin laughed, and sighed, "Don't worry. I remember his name."

"What was it then? Tell me!" pleaded Miku.

Pausing for a moment for suspense, Rin finally said the boy's name.

"Len," she breathed. "His name was Len."

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Well, I hope you enjoyed this, although it's kinda average. Pointers on how to improve are greaatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	2. The Schoolgirl and the Schoolboy

Well, thank you for the nice comments and reviews for the previous chapter... :') It means a lot to me...

And here's the next one. Thanks in advance for reading.

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha. Not me. Unfortunately.

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The Schoolgirl and the Schoolboy

Day after day, the Rin and Miku would visit the café after a long day at school. In their red blazers, dark blue ties and dangerously short black skirts, they would sit down at a table for two and hope against hope that the boy, Len, would come by to serve them again. Luckily, their efforts were not in vain. Most of the time, they got the boy they wanted. On the odd day, they would get a random waiter who wasn't half as good as they thought Len was.

One particular day in the café, the two girls were chatting non-stop to each other whilst Len was nervously taking their orders in his crisp white shirt under a clean black waistcoat, when Rin happened to glance upon a scattering of cuts and bruises upon the boy's neck and left hand.

"What happened there?" asked Rin, pointing out the markings to the boy.

"Huh?" Len's warm, blue eyes searched for whatever the girl was trying to point out to him. Finally, he saw the cuts and bruise. "Um… There?" He held up his left hand and indicated the scratches on his neck.

"Uh-huh," answered Rin, whilst hopeless Miku was listening, lost, to their conversation.

"W-well, the other day, I… I… I fell over," stammered the boy, trying to avoid the blonde girl's penetrating gaze.

"How did your neck get cut then?" continued Rin, sounding more like a police officer questioning a suspect.

"Um… W-well… I was carrying some… some glass plates and cups and so… w-when I fell, the glass shattered and… and um… y-you know…" mumbled the boy, as if unsure of his own story. Fortunately, Rin had stopped inquiring him after this and she went back to eating her cake.

After a while of silence and with Len standing awkwardly by the table, Rin said dismissively, "You can go, you know." With that, Len nodded furiously and began to leave.

He was stopped for a second when Rin whispered, "Bet you go told off badly by the manager then."

She winked and he promptly walked away. However the friendly, chatty atmosphere in the café was sharply broken when there was a resounding _crash_ and all eyes turned upon a young blond boy waiter on the floor, with various plates smashed around him.

...

The next day in school, Rin was, once again, lying with her head on her desk and staring blankly out of the window, waiting impatiently for the first lesson to begin. The azure blue sky outside reminded her of Len's clear, blue eyes. Suddenly, she shook her head. Why was it so hard to _not_ think about that boy? She leant back on her chair and rocked it back and forth.

From her desk diagonally behind Rin, Miku saw her best friend shaking her head. Instantly, Miku seemed to know what Rin had been daydreaming about. Rin never paid any attention nowadays, much less attention than she had done before they met Len. Miku frowned. True, Rin was her best friend and it was obvious that she loved a certain waiter, but what about her?

_What about me?_ thought Miku.

All of a sudden, the door slammed shut and the whole class jolted.

"Class, today, we will welcome a new member to our class," announced the teacher in her high-pitched voice.

Rin gasped and almost fell off her chair with surprise.

Miku gasped too, turquoise eyes wide with shock.

The new member stood by the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Blue eyes peered through a pair of black-rimmed, rectangular glasses.

"The name's Len," he introduced himself. He scanned the room, seeing two _very_ familiar faces. "Nice to meet you all."

A sea of gaping faces stared at the newcomer. Sure, he was wearing the correct uniform, but it seemed like… with his own little adjustments. He had on the school's red blazer, buttons undone; no jumper underneath, just a white shirt; his grey trousers were slightly dirty, with the hem of the right leg vaguely ripped; his dark-blue tie was loose and hung limply down his neck, whilst his sleeves were scruffily rolled up so you could see a variety of scratches and cuts.

Surely the boy would get told off for being so unkempt and messy? Although, it was as if the teacher didn't care a single bit. How strange.

"Len is going to be staying with us for a few weeks as a sort of transfer student," explained the teacher. No reaction from the class.

"So everyone, do take care of him," she continued. Silence.

She cleared her throat. _A-hem._

"Yes, Miss," the class droned in unison.

Len was directed to his seat by the teacher which was beside Rin and in front of Miku. Coincidence?

After the seemingly-endless lesson, it was finally break and the class immediately began talking and chatting and gossiping to each other. All except Len, who had his head buried in a thick novel. He felt a tap in his shoulder and, glancing up, saw Rin and Miku standing to his left, grinning like fools. He smiled.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a whole group of girls to his right, giggling and pointing and blushing. He pretended not to notice them. He was well-rehearsed in ignoring people.

"So? You came to say hi?" Len teased, facing Rin and Miku while still sitting comfortably in his chair.

"Not quite," answered Rin. "Rather, to ask, is your arm alright? It looks worse than before."

Shrugging, the boy replied, "Yeah, I have a cat at home. Y'know. Cats… scratch."

"I like cats too!" Miku butted in. "They're so fluffy and funny and cute and all!"

Len smiled hesitantly and nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Len!"

Sighing, the boy turned around in his chair. "Yeah?"

"Do you sing?"

It was one of the girls who had thrown the question out there. She held up her phone. A Youtube clip? She smiled slyly. "Cos I think we have a talented little boy here."

The running clip showed a young boy, about ten or so, singing and playing the piano at the same time. When the camera zoomed in to view the boy's face, it was easily recognisable. The whole class turned to gawk at Len, who simply sat in his chair, arms resting on his desk.

"Yeah. I do sing. So? I also play the piano and guitar. That good enough for you?" said the boy. "And _that_ was one of my own compositions. There's a lot more if you keep searching. Maybe even a concert." He winked.

All the gathered girls squealed slightly. _How amazing!_

All of the girls except Miku. She was deep in thought. Something didn't add up. But what?

Len caught Miku's thoughtful expression and he yawned loudly.

"What's up?" he whispered.

"Out of all the schools in the area you could have chosen, you chose this one," Miku said bluntly.

"Hm. So what?" grinned the boy mischievously.

"Coincidentally, Rin and I also come to this school. And of all the seats which were empty, you were chosen to sit in the one you are in now. Coincidentally, it's just beside Rin and in front of me. And not only that, but you've won the hearts of pretty much all the girls in the class already. You're quite something."

"Why, thank you. I'm just a lucky guy."

"Hey, hey! What are you two on about?" complained Rin.

"Nothing," Miku said dismissively. "Just coincidences."

But there was something else Miku couldn't quite lay her finger on. What was it?

Suddenly, the bell rang, piercing the hallways and lessons began again.

Unpacking the books for the upcoming lesson, the boy glanced sideways to see Rin gazing fondly at him. He winked and she instantly turned around, blushing pink again.

Shaking his head imperceptibly, the boy smirked to himself. Coincidences?

Never believe in coincidences.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this.

I'm still improving so any tips and pointers on how to improve are greatly appreciated. Thank you!


	3. The Schoolgirl and the Gymnast

So, here's the next chapter! Ummm... Enjoy, I guess.

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha. Not me. Unfortunately.

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The Schoolgirl and the Gymnast

As the school days trundled on, it felt as if life could stay like this. As if life could stay normal. But obviously, life isn't like that at all. Things have to get better, or worse.

Just when Len seemed to have settled into the swing of school life, a few days later, he was absent for a week. It was almost like a mysterious disappearance – a magician's act – apart from the fact that he returned back to school. So… it wasn't that magical. Even so, there was something different about the boy. During the time the boy had off, which was, apparently, due to some form of illness, Miku had all the time in the world to think about the 'something' about the boy which she thought was weird.

The day after Len had returned, the class had their first sports lesson. Today, they were doing gymnastics. The girls got changed in the girls' changing room and the boys in their boys' changing room. Whilst changing into their gym kit, Miku and Rin started discussing their currently-favourite topic. Len.

"I couldn't imagine him doing gymnastics, right? He can barely walk without falling over," mumbled Rin.

"And breaking a couple of dishes at the same time," Miku added in good humour. The two girls giggled quietly.

However, if the two girls were really thinking this way, they were in for a huge surprise. Again.

"Right CLASS!" boomed the sports coach. His voice was deep and loud. And unfortunately, this was his way of whispering. Nobody wanted to know what his level of shouting was like. "BOYS to the LEFT! GIRLS to the RIIIIGHT!"

Rin shuddered at the intensity of the coach's voice. It hurt her ears _so much_. As the students began setting out the equipment and safety mats, the coach bellowed, "NEW BOY! Where ARE you?"

All eyes turned to Len once again. Confidently, the blond boy lifted his hand so the coach knew who he was. To be honest, he much preferred to be called by this name. _I have a name, you know, _he thought to himself. All the same, he just said, "Yes, sir." In his navy blue school shorts and white polo shirt, he didn't look much.

Nodding slowly, the coach sized him up. "You're quite shrimpy aren't you?"

Cooly, Len shrugged. "If you say so."

The coach's eye twitched. No-one ever dared to answer _him_ back. Yet this… _shrimp_ just did. What's the world coming to? Nonetheless, he carried on, "Show us what you got."

The mats were all set up in the centre of the gymnasium, in a giant blue square. Various pieces of equipment lay about. A pommel horse and ropes hanging from the ceiling were some of the pieces among them. But he needed neither ropes nor horses. Rather, he didn't need any of the equipment to show off. And show off he did.

With a small smirk to himself, he took his place at one of the corners of the square of mats. Arms up. And begin.

_First, run-up… Skip, hop, jump, flip number one… land. Turn around, run… cartwheel, spring up and flip number two. Oh, let's use the pommel horse a bit. Run, quick-quick… single-handed cartwheel and… hands on pommel horse… big lift… and over with a flip number three._ Len grinned to himself as he heard the gasping of the audience. He landed smoothly with a _thud_ and held his arms up, indicating he had finished.

There was an applause and Len saw the 'intimidating' coach dumbstruck. Success.

...

One lunchtime, when Rin was busy with a club of hers, Miku asked to talk to Len. She had finally realised what she couldn't place her finger on before.

Pulling him behind a wall by the lockers, she said, "What happened to our cute little waiter boy?"

Len gave a short laugh and replied, "What? I'm here aren't I? Besides, aren't you going to start with why you dragged me here? I have band rehearsals, y'know." Suddenly serious, Len's face shadowed over slightly. He continued, "I guess I didn't fool you then. Seriously, and I thought _you_ were the unobservant one."

Miku frowned.

"Anyway, I guess you noticed, by the looks of things. What _were_ you concentrating on when I was showing off in that spots lesson? Course, you would have been staring and my handsome face, no?"

"Wh-what?" stammered the girl, blushing slightly. Quickly regaining her composure, she protested, "Of course not, you idiot! I presume you know what I saw."

"And I presume that nonetheless, _you _would like to tell me yourself. And do hurry up. I have band rehearsals."

"I will, then. Cuts. Cuts and bruises and scars," said Miku quietly. "What exactly goes on in your life?"

Len flinched. His blue eyes seemed sad and full of hurt. Unexpectedly, he flared up and he flung Miku roughly against the wall, pinning her there with his left arm.

"Don't you even dare ask about that. Don't even _think_ about it," he snarled viciously. With that, he stormed off.

"And what's with your whole personality change, eh?" Miku shouted after him. "And change of talents as well? What's _wrong_ with you?"

_Nothing. Nothing is wrong with me,_ raged Len's stormy mind. _It's just all you people. You're the ones that have something wrong with yourselves!_

After school that day, Miku walked home with Rin, and she voiced her suspicions about Len to her. Rin listened, refusing to believe all these things. She didn't want to believe it. None of it. Len was Len: the cute little waiter from the café who turned out to be a talented genius… right?

As they journeyed home, the two girls took a short detour to visit the café again. Though this time, they only peered through the thick glass windows, which stretched from the roof canopy to the pavement ground. Standing there for a while, they saw Len, his mass of blond hair standing out in the crowd. He had already switched from his school uniform into his waiter's outfit – a simple black and white colour scheme.

For a split second, the boy chanced a glance outside whilst taking orders, and catching sight of the two staring girls, he winked discreetly, before turning back to his table of customers, playing shy and nervous again. Miku marvelled at his acting – it was pretty much first-class stuff. Even professional actors could do no better. Rin, on the other hand, just gawked, her blue eyes sparkling with affection. Upon seeing this, Miku grabbed her lovestruck friend by her wrist and dragged her away.

The duo returned to the apartment they shared. It was small, but big enough for two people. There was the main living room, which also served as the dining room, connected to a small kitchen through a door. And the corridor led off to a bathroom, Miku's room and Rin's room. The apartment was very neat and tidy, with barely a speck of dust visible. Everything was arranged in an orderly way, with no exceptions.

Soon, the sun began to set and the sky was dyed a blood-red, mixed with pink clouds. Later, the crimson sky gave way to a black, velvet sea, twinkling with pearly stars and a glowing silver moon. All of a sudden, it started raining.

"I don't like the rain. It makes me feel so gloomy," complained Miku.

"Hmmm," murmured Rin.

Miku sighed. Her friend was definitely in love with that boy. But there was something about him that unsettled her. It was hard to explain. At least she had sorted out her emotions. _And no,_ thought Miku defiantly, _I am not in love with him._

Just as the two girls were about to go to bed, for it was already half past ten, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Rin half-heartedly.

When she opened the door, she found the drenched figure of Len standing in the doorway, with a grey hoodie and black tracksuit trousers.

"Hey," he smiled.

Rin was speechless. "H-how…"

"How do I know where you live?" smirked Len. He shrugged, "Things are easy when you know how."

"Stalker," mumbled Miku with a sour expression, who had come to see who the visitor was.

If looks could kill, Miku would have been swiftly murdered by a certain angry boy there and then.

"What do you want?" growled Miku.

"H-hey, Miku! Don't be so rude!" interjected Rin. It was clear whose side she was on. She turned towards the blue-haired girl, arms folded in front of her chest.

"Yeah," mouthed Len mockingly, just so Miku could see.

Miku was fuming. If only she could strangle him that very moment, life would be so much better.

"Well," began Len in a weary voice, "I left my house keys at school in my locker, so I was wondering… if I could stay the night."

"Of course!"

"No."

Rin and Miku stared at each other. They had said the exact opposite things at the exact same time.

"Never mind her," dismissed Rin quickly. "Come on in."

Miku scowled as Len entered with a triumphant expression on his face. What was going on now?

When Rin had left to grab some snacks, Miku turned on the boy.

"What about your father?" she asked. "Won't he let you in the house?"

"My father?" Len echoed.

"Yeah, your father. I'm guessing he lives in the same house as you. They said you transferred here because your father got some work in the area."

"My father? Work? Same house?" Len laughed slyly. He smirked. "Whoops. I lied."

"What?"

The boy shrugged uncaringly, as if it was no big deal. He carried on, "I don't even have a father."

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I hope enjoyed this chapter too~

Thanks fro readin! Again, pointers on how to improve are welcome!


	4. The Schoolgirl and the Cat

Firstly, there are two things to say.

1) This chapter contains a tad bit of bad language.

2) This will be the last chapter for the time being, as I am going on holiday for two weeks (as of today) with no internet connection. So please bear withh me! I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I get back.

But anyway, enjoy!

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha.

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Cat

"No father? What are you talking about?" yelled Miku. "Of course you have a father! Everyone does!"

Len gave a soft _hmph._

"Who are you anyway? I've had enough of you messing around. And Rin's been acting all weird lately because of you," Miku continued ranting. "It's all your fault, see? And now you just stroll into our apartment, in your wet clothes and just say to me that you have no father. What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Miku was all fired up. She was annoyed and angry and extremely frustrated. She glared at Len. Steadily, Len held her stare. He was only just taller than her, so it was easier than the times he had to stare down others who had been much taller.

"I mean what I mean," he whispered with a hint of menace in his voice. "It's not as if people like you could understand anyway." He turned around and started walking away, when Rin's cheerful voice rang in the air.

"Len! There's some cake on the kitchen table for you. That's all we have, I'm afraid."

Grinning, the boy strolled into the kitchen, coming back out with a slice of chocolate cake on a plate. In his left hand, he held a silver fork with a lump of cake on. Eating it, he smiled contentedly.

"Very nice," he shouted to Rin, who was busy washing up a few bits and pieces. Len leaned against the doorframe, eating, and occasionally glancing murderously at a glowering Miku.

"Just don't break the plate," she commented bitterly, receiving another murderous glare from Len.

...

"Rin! You can't go on like this! You can't love him!"

"Why not? Just because you're jealous or something?"

"Why should I love a jerk like that? I'm telling you, he's no good. He left without a goodbye!"

"So what? Besides, Len is _not_ a jerk!"

The two girls argued with each other on the way to school that day. It was a beautiful morning, ruined only by the sparking quarrel and the tense atmosphere.

Last night, Len had slept in the living room, on the couch, after a quick shower and drying his clothes off. Miku and Rin had also gone to bed and had woken up this morning to find that the boy had gone without a word. All he had left behind was a paper crane with "unfold me" written on its wing.

It was actually a letter to the two girls, and a short one at that. All it said was:

_ Thanks for the stay._

_ Len x_

Miku wasn't quite happy with this, although Rin protested, saying that at least he said thank you. However, what Rin did not say was that when she woke up this morning, she had found an origami heart on her dressing table and, upon unfolding it, read a letter from Len as well. It asked her to come round to his house in the afternoon, after school. He gave her his address and phone number, before signing it off with his name, a kiss and a heart.

Rin could only blush and a hurried thought had flitted through her mind. _He came into my room when I was asleep._

After school had ended, Rin made an excuse to Miku, saying that she would do a bit of grocery shopping. She told Miku to go home first. In reality, Rin was doing just as Len said. _Meet me._

She slowly walked down the streets, as she searched for her destination. When she arrived, at the house, she marvelled at the size and sight of it. It was a huge house – almost like a mansion – and it stood, towering and alone.

Following, the gravelly pathway, she opened the iron gate which was, surprisingly, unlocked. Suddenly, a dog barked. Rin froze. _WOOF!_ She ran to the porch, slamming into the huge, oak door, which flung open. Consequently, Rin landed on the hard, wood floor. Why was the front door unlocked as well? Strange.

It was beautiful inside. The high ceiling was well over twenty feet above her head and with every step she took, a click echoed down the empty hallways. The house had an odd, old-fashioned feel to it.

Curiously, Rin looked around and went into the first room she came across. It was pitch-black.

A sudden white flash blinded her. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light change, she realised she was framed by a spotlight. Gazing around, she saw black curtains draped over windows and sets of modern equipment… so out of place with the old atmosphere. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was filming equipment. Cameras, studio lights, boxes full of props and costumes and even sound mixers lay scattered across the gigantic room.

"Rin Kagamine," announced a voice, which had been amplified through a microphone, or a megaphone. "Blonde girl, aged 14. Likes cooking and daydreaming. Dislikes dogs and school. 5 feet tall. Looks cute with ribbons. That was my addition to this boring information. Current occupation – schoolgirl. Dreams of being whisked away by a prince in shining armour on a white horse. Has only a handful of personality defects, one of which being… not knocking on front doors to come in to someone's house."

Staring up, Rin saw a shadowy figure on the balcony._ Len._

With a flick of a switch Len turned on his own spotlight. He was holding a file, full of papers. He had been reading these many times over. He had practically memorised the information that they held.

"Len?" Rin repeated aloud.

"That's me," replied the boy. And, with one hand on the balcony ledge, he pushed himself off and jumped, landing cat-like on the ground, only an arm's length away from a pink-faced Rin. "You came much earlier than I had expected."

He wore a scruffy white shirt underneath a black jacket, which was equally scruffy and dirty. His black trousers were slightly ripped by the knees and his black shoes had grey stripes which were once supposedly white. His waiter's tie was carelessly draped around his neck.

Len took a few swift steps forward, his left hand in his pocket, until he was right beside the trembling girl.

"What… what else do you know?" stammered Rin.

"Oh," he whispered in her ear, "Quite a bit. It's my job, you know?" It was a slightly sinister whisper which chilled Rin to the bone. Len took another few steps forwards, before turning on his heels to face Rin, cold blue eyes twinkling with mischief in the half-dark.

"Anyways," Len continued in a brighter, more playful voice, "Come on. This isn't a proper room for a guest to be in."

Rin stepped forward uneasily, feeling dizzy. Why? For the first time, seeing Len's smiling face made her uneasy. Why? Could Miku be right? What did Len mean by this being his job?

Not watching where she was going, Rin tripped over, but before hitting the hard floor, she was caught in soft arms.

"Careful."

Rin saw Len's worried face. As she stood up, he held her gently, arms around her waist.

"I'm fine," Rin flustered, turning bright red. She shook his hands off. Even in the dim light of the hallway, Rin saw Len's bandaged left hand. "What happened to your hand?"

Len shrugged and grinned. "It's fine."

Taking her hand in his, Len led Rin to upstairs and around various corners, before opening the door to a room. Once inside, it was obvious this was Len's bedroom. Unlike the overall old-fashioned feel of the house, this room was new and contemporary. And it was enormous, although very untidy and extremely disorganised. To the left side was a king-sized bed, with the duvet hanging off the side; against the front wall that they faced, was a desk at least two arms wide, complete with a yellow laptop, sheets of paper, miscellaneous pens and pencils, and a stylish desk lamp; and to the right hand side, where there should be a wall, there was instead a sheet of thick glass with a sliding door to a balcony overlooking the garden. Clothes were strewn all over the bed and bits of snacks – crumbs and packets alike – were strewn all over the floor.

"Wow," breathed Rin.

"Wow it's messy, or wow it's awesome?" joked Len. He added to himself, "Seems like I forgot to tidy up. Again."

"It's fine. I don't mind," replied Rin, having heard the boy's muttering.

Sunlight shone through the glass wall, lighting up the room significantly.

"Come in," beckoned the boy.

Rin stepped in, taking in her surroundings. There was a simple, white and red fur carpet by the bed. She blinked. What was the black object on it?

Seeing her stare intently at something, Len followed the girl's line of vision.

He swore to himself as he realised what was lying there on the carpet. _Shit. _He really did forget to tidy up.

Len sidestepped and was about to kick the black object back under the bed when he saw Rin's expression and he froze. It was a mixture of curiosity, anxiety and, ultimately, fear. He had seen that sort of expression far too many times in his life already. Fear.

Scared blue eyes met a pair of regretful, sorrowful ones.

"L-Len…" began the girl tentatively. She inspected the red on the carpet closely. It was no ordinary red. She glanced back at the boy's bandaged left and. She had the pieces of the puzzle, but how did it all fit?

"I'll tell you how it fits," said Len, with a dangerously serious tone. It was as if he'd read her mind. But things like that were easy. "But firstly, you were surprised by my dog, weren't you?"

"I… I thought you had a cat," whispered Rin, her voice trembling.

Len smiled slyly. "Whoops. I lied again. But the thing is, I do have a cat. In a way."

"Wh-what do you mean?" ventured the girl.

"Let's say… we've been playing a game of cat and mouse since you met me. And, as you're the scared, cute, little white mouse, then I must be the hunting black cat. Right?" He winked.

Rin couldn't believe it. Any of it. It can't be true.

"Well, let's get back to this carpet then, shall we," continued Len with a tired sigh. He bent down and picked up the offending black object.

Rin could bear it no longer. She blurted out, "Why? Why is there a gun? Why is there blood on the carpet?"

Len held the gun in his left hand and cocked it. Single-handedly, he aimed a shot just above the girl's head. _Bang!_

His expression full of menace, he stared the girl right in the eyes. With a bitter laugh, he explained:

"Because it's my job."

* * *

Hehe... a bit of suspense there. Well, you can keep guessing. All will be revealed in two weeks' time!

And thank you for reading!


	5. The Schoolgirl and the Past

I... I'm alive. Sorry for the slow update. I just haven't had the motivation to write even though I had it all planned out...

And now it's back to school so updates will be even SLOWER. Sorry. I'll try my best though! *fiery determination*

Oh, and I did have a great holiday. Haha~

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Past

Rin stared wide-eyed at the boy, whose gun was still aimed just above her head. Curiously enough, she didn't feel the slightest bit scared… at least not as scared as she was about the sudden twist of events and realisations.

"Wh-what do you mean, your job?" she asked with a trembling voice.

Len lowered his arm and sighed. He sat down on the edge of his bed. As he spoke, he refused to meet the girl's eyes, "Sit down and I'll tell you a story."

Rin stayed standing, reluctant and frowning.

"Come on. I won't bite."

"Oh, really," the girl whispered.

Len laughed shakily, "Dogs bite. Cats scratch. Stereotypically."

Reluctantly, Rin did as she was told and sat down on the bed, though keeping her distance from Len. His blue eyes had a faraway, almost nostalgic, look, as he stared at the gun in his left hand.

A mobile's ringing broke the silence. Len snapped back into reality and grabbed a mobile phone from the folds of the bedcovers. With an angry expression he answered the call, "What?"

There was a pause before he shouted, "Shut up! I do what I want!" And he promptly switched the phone off, throwing it to the other side of the room, where it smashed against the wall, landing in pieces beyond repair. Rin only gawked, speechless.

Len breathed in deeply, calming himself. His eyes were closed, and when he opened them again, there was not a single trace of anger left. Again, it was silent.

"So…" ventured Rin carefully, "Wh-what about the –"

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I was getting to that," chipped in Len. He tilted his head backwards and gazed at the ceiling and, with a cheerless smile, began his story.

"Now, how do I start this? Heh. As far as I can remember, I lived in an orphanage. I had no idea who my parents were. And I never knew, either. Every day was tough. Every day was the same. The orphanage was a poor one, and it barely had enough facilities for half of us, never mind all of us. We all had to work for our keep, otherwise… they'd just throw us out. Just like that," he paused. Why? Why was he telling this girl his past? What was it about her that made him… trust her?

Rin stared intently at Len. Her eyes peered into the depths of his heart. Under normal circumstances, the boy would have been able to stare back, but this time, he looked away, feeling… he didn't know what he was feeling. Nevertheless, he continued with his tale.

"I never knew much. I never learnt much. The orphanage didn't teach us much."

"About what?" asked the girl quietly.

"About family. And love… that sort of stuff," Len laughed softly. "So even now, I don't know love."

"Did you like the orphanage though?"

Len shrugged. "I guess I'm… grateful, I think. But…" he trailed off.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Rin attempted a joke.

Any other time Len would have glared at whoever made such a joke like that, but he wasn't in the mood to intimidate people. He glanced at his digital clock. They still had some time left.

"Anyway," he continued. "There was a day. One fateful day. The night before, we had all gone to bed as usual, with a bit of fussing about. The next day, I woke up. Everything was in ruins. Everything."

Len's eyes took on a melancholic expression, as blue as sadness itself. His voice shook as he carried on again, "I was the only one left. The house was demolished. Broken furniture was scattered all across the floor. Glass had been smashed and rubbish covered the few dirty carpets. I was scared. So scared. Dead bodies of all my childhood companions littered the ground, bloodied and broken… it was horrible. I just… I just couldn't do anything.

"Before I could take another step, I felt something against my head. It was cold. And had an air of murder about it. It clicked and I heard a man's voice. He said to me, 'How are you feeling?'

"I couldn't speak. My throat felt tight. It hurt. I replied, 'Horrified.' One word summed it all up. But then, I heard the man's finger on the trigger. It frightened me even more." He laughed nervously. "I guess I am just a scaredy cat. But back then, I also felt something else. I had no idea why I told that man though. But I did.

"'Thrilled.' And that word changed my life. I don't really know why I felt that way. It felt like I was under some sort of spell. But after that moment, the cold air shattered. It happened in a blur of motion. I had no idea how it happened… it's like my reflexes took over. Within seconds I had managed to knock the gun out of the man's hand. Sent it flying and caught it myself. It surprised me just as much as it surprised him. I found myself pointing it at the man with shaking hands."

Len stared at his hands and softly laughed again. "See? They're shaking even now."

"Who was he?"

"Whoever he was, I was grateful, somewhat. He was part of an organisation. They took me in. I was an orphan, but they gave me something as close to a family as I could have ever wished for. They gave me what I had always wanted – freedom and a life. My own life. But… nothin ever comes free. I was part of their organisation now and I had to do as I was told, else they'd simply kick me out. And then I'd have no-one to turn to, nowhere to go."

"Wh-what sort of jobs did you have to do?"

"Jobs that dirtied my hands – dyed them red. I didn't like it at first, but it soon became… normal. I couldn't care less."

"Y-you… killed?"

Len smirked half-heartedly. "Hmph. I prefer the term _skilfully assassinated_."

"B-but… In cold blood? You killed people you didn't even know!"

"So what? All the better if I didn't know them. Makes the job easier. Besides, everyone dies sooner or later. What should a few lives mean to me? I also did a handful of other jobs: kidnapping, couriering, stealing, 'escorting', protecting…" He counted them out on his still-trembling fingers.

"And I'm just a part of one of your assignments."

Rin's voice was tinged with hurt. But that meant nothing to the boy. He winked.

"Yup."

"But why me?" protested the girl. "What's so special about me?"

"I think you know anyway," sighed Len. He picked up another phone from somewhere. _Click. Click._ "Ah, here it is… Let's see… Client: Father. Wants –"

"Shut up!" screamed Rin suddenly. Even Len paused, with a hint of surprise on his face… or was it amusement?

He pretended to yawn. "Well, I'm tired. Why don't you talk? Humour me."

"I think _you_ know anyway," Rin shot back.

Len wagged his finger at her. "Tsk. Tsk. I want to know whether my information was correct, see?"

Rin stared at the floor, her eyes sad and watery.

She gave in and began her tale. "My parents were rich. I had everything I wanted as a child. Everything except attention. My parents didn't have much time for me, due to their jobs and things like that. Although occasionally, we did have holidays together. A trip to the beach or something simple like that. It was never much. It got to a point where I was ignored for weeks on end. Even months. Eventually, I couldn't take it any more, so I ran away from home. I stayed with my best friend, Miku, and she was more than happy to take me in. We live in an apartment together, as you know already."

"And seen," commented the boy blankly.

Rin nodded. "We're quite happy together on our own. Her parents are fine with it and so am I. Father tried to take me back at first, but he soon gave up, seeing it was hopeless. I like this life and I want to keep it this way."

Len gazed at the blonde girl, incomprehension in his blue eyes. He would never understand things like this.

Rin smiled, almost ruefully, and said, "I guess he wants me back again."

It was silent again. Silence like a terrified animal, prepared to flee at any moment.

There was a resounding knock on the front door. It echoed through the empty hallways.

Rin turned to Len, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. She knew what was coming.

"Please," she whispered. "Please don't make me go back."

"It's not my problem," Len smirked. He shrugged and added, "Just doing my job."

"Please… if you ever cared about me…"

"Mmm… nope," answered the boy without a care.

Rin shook her head as the stairs creaked under the heavy footsteps.

"Please," she begged, "I thought… I thought you loved me."

"I told you," sighed Len with a dismissive wave of his hand, "I don't know how to love."

* * *

Well... maybe getting a bit cheesy here. I don't know. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!


	6. The Schoolgirl and the Betrayal

It's been so long... sorry about that...

It's just that I'm now starting my GCSEs and I'm also taking Art which takes up an annoyingly large amount of my spare time. Hahaha~

Also, I just wanted to say that the way I write stories is that i come up with a vague plot with vague events and I come to make up the details as I go along, so some things may not fit perfectly, and I'm sorry about that too...!

But thank you for all the positive feedback and support I've been getting! It means a lot to me!

So here we go, another chapter. (Snails could upload these stories quicker than I can, but that's life.) Enjoy!

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha, in case you don't get the jist of it by now ;)

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Betrayal

Heavy footsteps drew nearer and nearer towards the bedroom, tapping coldly on the hard floor.

Rin's heart was beating frantically. Her sad blue eyes looked directly into Len's cool blue ones. She wanted to know what he was thinking. She wanted to know what he meant by not knowing how to love. She wanted to get out of this mess.

"Better behave yourself," commented the boy blandly. "I'd hate to have to hurt you. Especially that pretty face of yours." He winked.

Rin shook her head defiantly. She wasn't going to fall for any of his tricks ever again. Never.

"I'm not going!" she shouted.

Len shrugged, "Too late."

Just then, two men burst in through the door, dressed in black suits and dark shades. They ignored the boy's presence entirely, heading straight towards the girl. In one quick motion, they grabbed Rin roughly by the arms.

"Hey… hey…" Len grumbled, "Even you guys don't knock. People these days."

He _hated_ being ignored. He tightened his grip on the gun he still held in his left hand.

"Are you gonna listen?" he growled. The two men began to make their way back out of the room, Rin struggling hopelessly in their iron-strong grasp. Len stepped in the way and slammed the door shut with a powerful kick.

"Let go of her," he said, his tone deadly quiet.

The men did not answer in words or in actions. _Still_ being ignored.

"_Tch_." Len glared. He raised his left arm and fired into the ceiling out of frustration. This only earned him evil stares from the two men. One of them shook his head, almost imperceptibly. The other barked a single word, "Out."

Reluctantly, Len gave in. "Fine, fine. I get it." He opened the door and followed the two men and their captive outside and into a car. He sat in the front passenger's seat, as Rin was shoved into the back. The two men split up, one sitting in the back like a watchdog and one driving. Len frowned as he looked into the rear view mirror, seeing Rin's tears fall down her pale face.

Shaking his head, he ruffled his hair back into place to take his mind off whatever he was thinking about… What _was_ he thinking about? He didn't understand. He felt… confused. His chest ached. It felt tight. He didn't understand these feelings. Grumbling to himself, Len stared out the window, watching the blurry scenery fly past.

...

It was not long before they arrived at the mysterious organisation's headquarters. The two men in black took Rin in their iron grasp again, dragging down various corridors. Len tagged along behind, although he knew perfectly well where they were going. For some reason, he felt a nagging thought in his mind as to why he shouldn't take the lead as always… a reason as to why he shouldn't turn up at all.

They came to a room with an eerie aura leaking out from below the heavy, black door. The door swung open ominously with a slight creak. Rin forced her eyes shut. Len walked in with a bored expression. If he was scared, he didn't show it.

There was a man standing in the middle of the cold room. The room itself was empty – barely furnished, apart from a leather sofa to one side and a well-lit glass case bragging an assortment of expensive antiques.

Turning around at the sound of the opening door, the man's eyes opened in what seemed to be shock. He had a shock of brown-grey hair and a neatly-trimmed beard. He wore a posh, black suit which must have cost so much, it would have burnt a hole in any normal person's pocket. He lowered his head, seeing another person besides the girl. His glasses balanced on the end of his nose, reflecting the light off the lenses so they looked perfectly white, as if to hide his expression.

With a bit of struggling, the blonde-haired girl was handed over to the dark-haired man. The black-haired men left the room. But what about the blond-haired boy? He stood there, glaring at the two people on the other side of the room.

Silence froze the air.

If looks could kill, Len's job would have been made much easier. His emotionless, blue eyes stared at the man, who held the girl so carefully, so softly, so… lovingly. Perhaps that was the right word. It's hard to use words you don't know the meaning of.

"Boy," began the man, his voice strict and powerful. "I said I specifically didn't want _your_ help." He practically spat the sentence out.

Len shrugged, a smirk playing about his mouth. "Who else would have caught your daughter? Cats are good at catching mice."

"Hmph," grumbled the man. He turned to Rin, who had started crying again, hurrying her out of the room. He held her by the hand, leading the way. Before he disappeared, the man turned around for a final word, "Just make sure your _master_ understands that." _Slam._ The door shut.

Len glowered at the floor, clenching his fists. He _hated_ implications that he was a _dog_… even if he did call the boss "master". He wasn't a dog. He didn't like dogs, even the ones that guarded his house. Dogs were uncivilised barbarians, compared to the sleek and proud royalty of cats. He liked cats. And upon that contemplation, he thought about the matter no more.

He was about to leave the room, when suddenly, the door burst open and Rin stood in the doorway, her hard blue eyes set with determination of some sort.

"I know nothing about you," she said simply, with a hint of domination in her voice.

Len tilted his head slightly to the side and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well that was sudden," he commented.

"I know nothing about you," repeated the girl stubbornly.

"Well… you know I'm a skilled assassin, a waiter, a liar and a traitor," he said with a hint of matter-of-fact helpfulness in his voice, like someone giving directions to someone lost.

Rin frowned, "I don't even know your full name."

Len shrugged, "You don't need to," he paused, "And actually, neither do I."

Out of the shadows, Rin's father appeared again. He placed his hand on Rin's shoulder, saying to her, "Come on, my girl. Let's leave." He was ignored.

"Why were you a waiter anyway?" continued Rin with her questions.

With a shaky laugh, Len replied, "Well, the organisation gives me a house, but not enough money. I need to eat, right? Master Shion's a stingy one."

The girl blinked. "You're hiding something."

Len waited. His heart was beating quickly. _Too_ quickly. It was never like this.

"Can I ask you something?" Rin said quietly. "Be honest."

There was a short pause. Even Rin's father was hushed for the time being.

"What… what do you think… of me?"

Len was taken aback by this. He had never been asked such a thing before, and wasn't quite sure on how to respond. But he made his mind up. For this girl… this girl was an exception and he would tell this girl the truth.

"Let's _leave_," insisted Rin's father. He was ignored once again.

With a heavy sigh, Len locked his hands behind his head casually, blue eyes deep in thought. For a moment, those cold blue eyes softened and were warm as he made eye contact with the girl.

"I think you're cute," he stated. "But I can't love you."

With that, the boy slipped past the static girl and he walked down the dark corridor.

"Wait!" Rin shouted persistently after him, her voice wavering again, being on the verge of tears. "So… so you never loved me? Not even for a moment?"

Hesitating in his path for a split second, Len made no action nor said a single word in response. He never looked back over his shoulder again to see Rin in tears, as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.

* * *

Well, not much to say down here... just hope you've enjoed the chapter! And please bear with me while I get cracking with the next one...


	7. The Schoolgirl and the Prayer

Yay! Another chapter! Not much to say now. Hope you enjoy this!

Oh, by the way, I'm not terribly consistent with my stories. So if you do find a mistake, please let me know! (For example, I might say that in chapter one, Rin is 15, but here, I might say she's 14. Yes, I'm that bad.)

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Prayer

Rin was sitting in the back seat with her father in a black car, the chauffeur driving silently to their destination – it was going to be an overnight stay at a private hotel before they set off home the next day. Rin stared out the window, refusing to even glance at the man beside her. Without blinking, still watching the scenery fly past, Rin spoke up.

"Why do you hate Len so much?"

"Don't you?" replied her father gruffly. "Don't you hate him for all he's done?"

Rin knew he was hinting at the fact that she was deceived by Len and was given back to her father. The man she hated so much. The man she was sitting next to now. It felt unreal.

"I can forgive him," said Rin bluntly. "He had no other choice. Now tell me. Why do you hate him so much?"

There was long sigh from the man. He took his glasses off, and wiped them, before placing them back on the end of his nose.

"…We were never meant to see him again," explained Rin's father reluctantly. "I didn't know… I would never have guessed… that _blasted_ organisation… they even tried to recruit orphans."

He spoke in disjointed sentences, as if mumbling to himself.

It took a moment for the words to sink in and make any sense to Rin.

"Father… what do you mean?" she asked, addressing him face to face as her 'father' for the first time in years. Her eyes widened in shock. "No way… you mean—"

"It was because your mother and I loved you. That's why—"

"You barely spent any time with me! And besides… Mother…" Rin trailed off as the abrupt argument stopped. There was complete silence in the car until they arrived at the hotel.

The hotel was more like a cottage than a hotel. It was small, homely, covered in ivy, and furnished with vintage items. Oak tables and chairs on top of fluffy carpets. Chandeliers draped with beads of glass. An old grandfather clock ticking chiming in the hallway.

Rin stormed up the stairs the first chance she got and didn't come back down until it was time for dinner. By then, the sun had set and the sky was quickly darkening. The first diamond stars had peeked out from the velvet twilight.

There was an awkward silence and sinister atmosphere at the dinner table. Despite the warm heating, the air felt cold and dangerous. Sitting down on one side of the long table, Rin was determined to keep a scowl on her face. The food smelt delicious, yet when she was eating, it was bland and tasteless. Worry, suspicion and confusion gnawed at her.

"Listen, Rin, dear," began Rin's father, breaking the silence. "Tomorrow, we're heading home. Your… mother… is very worried about you." There was no answer from the stormy-eyed blonde girl. As she left the dining room, the chandelier dimly lighting the place, her father stated, "We're going back whether you like it or not. There are plenty of better schools." He paused. "And better people, for that matter."

An hour later, Rin sat on her bed. It was comfortable and soft. She was in her school uniform, still. She hadn't brought any spare outfit changes with her. A girl's big mistake. She couldn't believe it: barely a day had passed since Len had come in, dripping wet, to her (and Miku's) apartment. Closing her tired eyes, Rin tried to recall all the day's events. She had finished school; she had gone over to Len's house without telling Miku; there was the whole… talk… with Len; she had been handed back over to her father; and now she was sitting on a bed, feeling frustrated and exhausted.

The bedside clock read 10:30pm. It was late. She was stuck with her father now. Inevitably, he wouldn't let her out of his sight ever again. Rin let out an aggravated cry. More importantly, she wanted to change her clothes. The red school blazer hung on a clothes hanger on the wardrobe door. She had her white blouse and black skirt on. That was as comfortable as it was going to get.

Rin pulled her feet up onto the bed, and curled up into a ball, arms hugging her legs. She placed her chin on her knees and sighed. Emptying her head of most distracting thoughts, she left herself with a small prayer. It was just a tiny bit of hope, like a single star against a vast black sky. Either the star would be drowned by the inky sky, or it would shine like a signal for help.

_Please,_ Rin prayed silently, _I don't want to be here. I don't want to go back. Please, let me go._

A few moments later, nothing had happened. Rin didn't feel any different. As thought, it was useless. Hopeless. She snuggled under the thick, down-filled duvet, resting her sleepy head on her pillow. Closing her eyes, Rin tried to sleep, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. Something was keeping her awake. It was as if something was about to happen. Something big.

Late into the night, Rin lay there, occasionally tossing and turning. Time slipped by so slowly. She glanced at the clock beside her every so often, only to find out only ten or so minutes had passed… 11pm… 11:10pm… 11:30…

After what seemed like decades of lying, motionless, on the bed, the clock ticked to midnight. The air was still. All was silent. Nothing moved.

_CRASH!_

Suddenly, there was a commotion. The sound of breaking glass shattered the air.

_BANG!_

A lonely gunshot pierced the night.

An equally lonely voice spoke out of the darkness.

"Seems like you need better security, sir," – unusually polite, and annoyingly mocking.

Rin sat bolt upright in the bed. Her eyes were wide open. All fantasies of sleep and peace had vaporised in an instant. She knew that voice. She knew that voice all too well.

There was a soft knock on her bedroom door. She waited, but after a few second of nothing happening, she whispered, "Come in."

A shadow entered the room. More accurately, a person clothed in shadows entered the room. Ice blue eyes with a mischievous twinkle stared at the girl.

"…Len," breathed Rin.

"_Hmm_?" he replied. He threw his hood back. He wore a pitch-black cloak which covered his whole body and flowed down to his heels. Presumably, he was also wearing black underneath. He looked like a phantom thief. His black leather shoes made not the slightest sound as he approached Rin.

"Wh-why are you here?" stammered the girl.

"Why am I here?" repeated Len, as if asking himself the question again. "That's a good question. Do you know the answer?"

"I asked you because I didn't know," retorted Rin firmly.

Len smirked. He liked this. In one swift motion, he leapt and perched upon the windowsill. The silvery moonlight framed his sleek, cat-like figure.

"I guess," he began, gazing at Rin as if she was some precious jewel, "I guess I came here to steal you."

* * *

Yay! End of chapter! Time to get working on the next one...


	8. The Schoolgirl and the Truth

Ummm... so hey! New chapter! (Finally...)

Also, I'd just like to say thank you for all your support, guys. It means a lot to me. I just feel happy when people enjoy what I write. It's even better, since I'm not all that confident about sharing my stories, usually, hahaha...

So here's another chapter. I'm not really sure what you guys have been expecting up till now, but I hope this will come as a (hopefully pleasant) surprise!

Oh, and I think there's some foul/bad/coarse language.

Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha.

Strange story plot belongs to me.

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Truth

Rin stared blankly at the figure perched on her windowsill.

"I… I don't get it…" she mumbled. Was this another act of Len's? Was he going to lie to her again? Was he going to suddenly turn tail and laugh while leaving her once more? Rin's blue eyes were riddled with fear and worry. There was something in her heart – hope. But was it going to turn out to be false hope?

There was a moment of silence where the boy stared into the girl's eyes, and the girl stared into the boy's. Both pairs were blue eyes, but both spoke a different story. Things had changed within the few hours they had been apart. Rin no longer felt her heart skip a beat every time she laid eyes on Len. Her eyes said this to him. He could tell. But no matter how hard Rin tried, she could not decipher what lay in Len's mysterious eyes. But she could see one thing – they seemed much… warmer than ever before.

After this space of stillness, Len let out a sigh of mock exasperation.

"You really don't get anything, do you?" he teased.

"It's not _my_ fault you're confusing," Rin shot back. Spending years with Miku had led her to such quick reactions when it came to arguments or insults.

Len was about to retaliate again, when the door suddenly burst open. Rin's father stood in the doorway with eyes so angry, they were on the verge of madness. His glasses were lopsided, his hair dishevelled, his dressing gown ripped at the sleeves. He glared directly at Len, with a murderous glint in his eye. The boy simply glowered back dangerously, all the previous warmth now gone.

"F-father…" Rin stammered. She didn't know what to say or what to do. Her father gave her a look as if to say _"now's not the best time"_. The man turned back to face the boy.

"Get _out_ of this place. You're nothing but bad luck. Leave."

Len flinched on the inside at the man's harsh tone. On the outside, he showed nothing, even as the man continued to speak, spitting out the words as if they were some disgusting bits of food in his mouth.

"You were never any good. _Never_. Just nothing but plain _bad luck_!"

Furious, the boy gritted his teeth. He shouted back defensively, "What would _you_ know about what I was and what I am? I was never any good? How would you know?"

Len and Rin's father continued to argue and the tension in the room grew to the point of exploding, when there was a shrill scream: "STOP!"

All eyes were on Rin. She was standing by her bedside, tears streaming down her face. Her hands were shaking as she held them to her chest. She whispered, "Please. Stop."

Something stirred in Len's heart. Something he still didn't understand very well. Bluntly, the man said, "Are you going to tell him?" He gazed intently at Rin, his eyes immediately softening. He continued to say, "The cat's out of the bag anyway."

Len frowned at the man. Tell him what? Was he supposed to be interested?

Rin shook her head. From that, her father understood that he would be the one to talk. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, before beginning his story to that _bastard_ sitting so arrogantly on the windowsill.

"I am your father, as well as Rin's. You're both my children. You and Rin are brother and sister. Twins, to be exact."

There was silence as the information sank in. Len smirked and gave a sceptical laugh. "How should I trust you? Why should I? Master Shion never told me about any of this, nor do I remember being the child of _you_, mongrel."

"Len. Just listen to Father," Rin said, almost inaudibly.

The blond boy was surprised to hear this from the girl. Nonetheless, he did as she said. Why? He didn't know. He just listened to the story being told rather emotionlessly.

"A long time ago, your mother gave birth to you and Rin. She always said how you were beautiful twins – the most beautiful children a mother could ever have. She loved you both the same. But how ironic it is that one of the two children she treasured so much, should bring her death about? And it was all _your_ fault, boy. Always causing trouble. Always getting into trouble. Nothing good ever came from you.

"Then that day you brought a cat home. A black cat. Of all the strays you could have chosen, it was a _black_ cat. Still, your mother was kind enough to let you keep it. She said you were a gentle little boy with a tender heart. You mother was too kind that way. I tried to convince her to tell you to get rid of that blasted cat, but no.

"And the next day, you broke the mirror in your room, playing with that cat. And not long afterwards, your mother fell ill. It was only a few days before she died. Even with her final breaths, she talked about how beautiful and loving her two children were. You just don't know how to appreciate things, _boy_."

Len listened without a word and sighed with disbelief. He still didn't know whether to believe all this or not. Probably not. "Why is it I don't remember any of this? Oh," he smirked again, "It's because you're lying, aren't you?" For some reason, he glanced at Rin for some sort of confirmation. He was hit with surprised when the girl answered, "No. It's the truth."

Then why couldn't he remember? His whole life was a lie, was it? He _hated_ it when people lied to him. Alright, it's fine if he lies to others, but _not_ the other way around. Len's turbulent mind stormed and thundered as he attempted to control himself and not lash out the way he usually did.

"Boy. You shouldn't be here. You should be dead. Why don't you do us all a favour and just disappear?"

Len narrowed his eyes slightly, "_Tch_. Like hell I would."

"Trust me, boy. If that damned organisation hadn't decided to scout you, you _would_ be dead. I sent you to the orphanage and told the organisation to arrange for the rest – for you and Rin to forget everything that happened, using some concoction they had formulated. And finally, life was good for once."

Through all this, both Len and Rin listened intently.

After another few moments of silence, Rin said, "And you re-married."

"It was all for the better," replied the father simply.

"B-but then, even so, you had no time for me. It was all about work this, work that," Rin mumbled, almost accusingly.

"Yes. And I deeply regret all that, dear. And when you managed to regain some of your memories of your childhood, I had no choice but to completely get rid of the boy altogether. Only, the organisation had different plans."

Still sitting on the windowsill, Len didn't know what to think any more. Emotions raged inside of him. But there was one which took precedence over all the others: hatred. He _hated_ the man in front of him who claimed he was his father. He _hated_ the fact his whole life was a lie. And he particularly _hated_ the fact that this _father_ of his was the one who had ordered for him to be killed.

Effortlessly, Len leapt off his seat and landed a few steps in front of his so-called father. From the folds of his dark cloak, he retrieved a shining, black gun.

Smirking, he said, "Fate is a funny thing. I grew up to hate the ones who had ordered my death. I had been rejected for as long as I could remember. And now, here we are." The gun clicked. "They say revenge is sweet." Len cocked his head slightly with an expression of mock innocence. "I wonder if that's true?"

Just as he was about to shoot, Rin jumped in the way. She stood between her father and Len, acting like a shield. Tears continued to roll endlessly down her cheeks.

"Move."

It was a single, piercing word.

"Move, or I'll shoot you as well."

Len glared with cold, merciless eyes. They were set on one thing and one target.

Suddenly, he felt a smack on his face. It took a while to realise that Rin had just slapped him hard on the cheek. He showed no signs of surprise.

Almost as suddenly as the smack, he felt Rin tackling him. She hugged him tightly, crying all the while.

"Please… don't…" she whispered between sobs. "We're all family, right? Please, stop… For my sake… As my dear brother…"

Len glanced emotionlessly into Rin's watery, blue eyes. He pushed her aside roughly. His left hand hung limply by his side, holding the gun. He wrapped his right arm around his stomach, as if attempting to hug himself.

"Who cares? Who cares about family? It means nothing to me anyway," he said dejectedly.

He raised his left arm.

Aimed.

And fired.

* * *

Bet you can't wait for the next chapter now, right? *hit*

Okay... Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	9. The Schoolgirl and the Escape

Sorry for not updating for ages. I've been really busy.

Okay, this is a really short and reletively boring chapter. And there's a bit of coarse language in it.

Finally, I think the story's nearly over. I was going to do something like a bonus chapter where I answer questions that haven't been answered in the story itself. (Len's gonna do most of the answering) So if you have any questions, ask away!

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the Escape

Silence crept into the room. It was soon broken by sobs and crying.

From her position on the floor, Rin dares to glance up, and she wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. She doesn't want to see her nightmares come true… but it's fine. She sees her father. He stands rigid, eyes wide open in shock, gaping, below a small hole in the ceiling. A bit of dust crumbles down.

Rin turns her head and saw a scowling Len, his left arm outstretched, holding a gun in his hand. His blond hair is messy, and a few strands cover his emotionless eyes.

"Once," he says, almost in a menacing growl. "I'll spare you. Just this once."

Len looked in Rin's direction, and his expression immediately softened. He continued his talk, "But she's mine."

In one swift action, he knelt down by Rin's side, taking her hand in his, and wiping away her tears with his other hand. He whispered gently, "It's alright, Rin. It's gonna be okay. Come on. Let's go home."

"No."

Len's heart skipped a beat. What? He was at a loss for words and thoughts. He thought he could see the man, who was his father, smirking.

"Wh-why? I… I thought…" stumbled Len. He had never been in a situation like this before. But then again, what was this situation like? Why was his heart beating so quickly? Why did he feel scared? What was he scared of?

"Not yet," corrected Rin. She had a ghost of a smile on her features – a somewhat cheeky smile. She slowly rose to her feet, supported by Len's steady hand. She was shaking ever so slightly as she walked over to her father. She raised herself onto her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, so Len wouldn't hear.

"I'm sorry. For everything. And for what I'm still to do."

"R-Rin. Don't," came the dry voice. The father was trying to sound commanding, but it didn't work. He too was racked with fear. Was she just going to leave, after he went into all that trouble with the organisation to get her back again?

"Goodbye, father. Don't worry – I'll be fine with Len. Promise." Rin kissed her father on the cheek. She couldn't remember when the last time was when she had done so before. Neither could he. "I love you."

Rin took a step back and turned around. She leapt back into Len's arms and hugged him tightly. "Let's go."

Len grinned triumphantly and his glared at his father with an expression which screamed, _'I win!'_.

"Wait!" shouted the man, gritting his teeth. He still wanted to argue. He was going to have the last laugh. "What about the hole in the ceiling, bastard?"

Len pretended to think about it for a second, before shrugging and smirking. "Nobody will know it was me, don't worry." He laughed and Rin gave and exhausted smile. Together, they went over to the window, and Len opened it as wide as it would go. Perfect. He carefully picked Rin up, holding her like a delicate princess.

"Hold on tight," he said to her. He added on, "Sorry I don't have a white horse." Len looked briefly over his shoulder and winked at the man. "Ciao." And he jumped out of the window with Rin safely in his arms. He landed with a soft _thud_ on the grassy ground, with the balance a cat naturally has. Rin stepped down onto the floor and, holding Len's hand, they began to run, the blond boy leading the way.

Rin glanced backwards and saw her father leaning out of the window. He had a sad expression on his face. Rin had a feeling she would never see him again. She returned her attention to the way they were running, determined not to cry. She had forgiven her father and she had forgiven Len. She realised that she loved both of them, but could only be with one. How ironic.

"It's not far," said Len. He continued to run in front, holding Rin's hand tenderly. "Master Shion agreed to lend me a lift… after some bribing."

Rin let out a small giggle. "How much?"

There was a sigh from Len. He momentarily looked at her and winked again. "Oh, no, not money. If you wanna get around, you gotta know what people are like. For example, my little sister likes cake, especially chocolate cake with a strawberry and cream on the top… although you don't actually eat the strawberry."

"Huh? Wait…" blustered Rin clumsily, "S-so you knew, e-even when we first met? At the café, with Miku?"

"Hmmm. Yeah. But that wasn't supposed to happen. I was just supposed to meet you in school."

"Well, then why–"

"We're here," commented Len. They slowed down to a stop in front of a dark shape. It took Rin a few moments to register what it was. It was a giant helicopter, silent and still in the night.

"So… Who's flying it?" she asked, although she thought she may already know the answer.

Len looked directly at her with his glittering eyes. He made a face, as if to say _'idiot'_.

"Me, of course."


	10. The Schoolgirl's End of Another Day

Long time no update again, my internet has been really dodgy these past few days...

But anywho, here's the second to last chapter. There'll be on emore after this and a bonus chapter (yay!) and that will be that.

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me so far, as I've never EVER completed a full story before, and it's nice when you know people are enjoying what you are writing! So thank you very much! *bows*

As always, Vocaloid (c) Yamaha... though I wish Len belonged to me.

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the End of Another Day

Len sighed as he kicked open the door to his overly large house, with a quietly-sleeping Rin in his arms. Honestly. She fell asleep so easily. He thought a bit more as he walked up the stairs, the lights automatically turning on. Perhaps she was just tired. Len smiled.

Again, he kicked open the door to his room, trying not to be too loud in case his dear sister woke up. He laid her on his bed and pulled the duvet over her gently rising and falling shoulders. She was so cute when she slept, with that happy little expression painted on her face. Like an angel.

With a groan, the blond boy trundled back out of the dark room, closing the door carefully behind him, and down the staircase. First, he went into the front room and let out an even bigger groan at the mess in front of him. Food packets and crumbs littered the area and cushions were strewn everywhere; scraps of paper piled up in corners and blotches of dirt and… other red stuff. Better clean up then.

_Especially that red_, Len added to himself. He groaned again.

With a sigh of resignation, he set himself to work. It wasn't all bad – he had found his long-lost GameBoy under the sofa and a handful of other things he thought he had lost forever. And as soon as the front room was tidy, he moved onto the next room.

...

Rin woke up with a yawn. Stretching her arms, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and rolled out of the bed. She looked around, but could barely recognise the room she was in. Soon, it dawned upon her again. It had been a hectic night and past day; it felt like it had gone on forever. She gave a tired smile.

Walking down the stairs, with a blanket around her, she went into the front room. It was… awfully tidy. Almost unnaturally tidy. _Especially for a boy's house,_ she thought to herself with a laugh. Next, she tried looking for the kitchen and had to try several different rooms and doors before she found it… and Len with it as a bonus.

He was sat on the small dining table, his head in his arms, leaning on the polished glass surface. Rin went a bit closer, about to nudge him on the shoulder, when she realised he was fast asleep. His blond shock of hair was a mess and his clothes were dusty. Rin smiled to herself again. She took off the blanket she had brought downstairs with her and pulled it over Len's gently dozing figure. Suddenly, she caught a sweet aroma in the air. On the kitchen table, near the hob, was a plate of steaming breakfast… coincidentally, her favourite foods too.

...

And so the days passed. Rin went to school on a daily basis and Len taking time off to finish some assignments which had piled up. He always returned late at night or in the early hours of morning with fresh cuts or bruises, and he'd always tidy up a bit and, in the mornings, make breakfast for his dear sister. Rin heard all this from his room upstairs, which she had temporarily stayed in. Len had insisted he'd be alright sleeping on the sofa or something.

And, over time, things got better. Rin and Miku's friendship was restored and they were, once again, chatting and gossiping as if nothing had ever happened. One day, Miku had asked, "So how're things going on with you and your boyfriend? Honestly, you don't even bother staying with me anymore."

Only then, did Rin realise that she had not explained the situation to her best friend. With a laugh, she shook her head and had replied, "I'll… no. Rather, _we'll_ explain it all later." It turned out that it was only Rin who did the explaining, as Len had blatantly refused to talk to the 'heartless girl who wanted to lock him out in the cold, pouring rain'. Rid had sighed at that. Were those two never going to make up?

One night, when Len had a day off, Rin cuddled up to him on the sofa. She felt him awkwardly tense up for a split second before relaxing again. For a few minutes, they watched the TV in silence together, before Rin broke the ice.

"You never told me how you bribed your Master Shion."

There was a brief pause, then, "Ice cream. He likes that stuff."

Rin laughed. She laid her head on Len's arm and clung on to it with her gentle hands.

There was another pause before the boy continued talking, "He's a big softie really, Master. Just play cute and you can get past him real easy."

"What about playing cute at the café?" teased Rin.

"Oh, that?" Len used his free arm to reach across and finger his twin's soft blonde hair. "The café belongs to Miss Luka, Master Shion's girl… friend. She's nice and all, letting me work there, but she always gets me to act like this and that. Apparently it gets more customers." The boy looked into Rin's eyes as if searching for some sort of proof that it _did_ get more customers. He sighed. "I don't really understand. But I guess it's better than being doomed to a fate of selling ice cream all day."

Rin laughed, and he joined in. She snuggled up to him even more and Len hugged her back… rather awkwardly. Rin supposed he wasn't too used to hugs and stuff like that.

"You're really warm y'know," complimented Len in a whisper.

Rin nodded, "Why did you decide to take me back?"

Such an inevitable question, but Len was prepared to answer it, "Because… I realised that I've been missing some things all my life. I was missing you. And you're the only one who can teach me all the other things I've been missing."

"What do you mean?"

"Y'know. Stuff. Things like care and kindness and generosity… and love. I want to know what it feels like to love a sister."

"But you didn't know that I was your sister until father said so."

"…That's not the point," grumbled Len bluntly. Still, he couldn't help but grin.

Rin simply nodded again and, with a smile, slipped into the world of dreams again. She managed to mutter, "You're cute when you sleep."

"Well," whispered Len, kissing her on the forehead, "you're _cuter_."


	11. The Schoolgirl and the New Beginning

Well, this is the last chapter... But I will have a bonus one uploaded, which is basically a little question and answer between Len and the others.

I hope this chapter is okay and... well, the ending is a bit awkwardly written. I had imagined it to be a lot better... Ah well.

And have a very Merry Christmas everyone! And thank you again for sticking with me all this time! I really appreciate it!

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha, but I want Len. I want him for Christmas. I want him now...

* * *

The Schoolgirl and the New Beginning

Days turned into weeks and the rumours which went round school claimed that the boy Len would be staying after all. Why? Nobody knew.

Len himself was finally able to lead a half-normal life as a schoolboy and a caring big brother for his naïve little sister. He still worked as a waiter at the local café after school, but Master Kaito Shion, head of the organisation, had deigned to give him much less assignments… and a new house.

Rather, the new house came from Len's pestering style of persuasion, with no ice cream this time. It was a three-storey, three-bedroom house, which he shared with Rin and, because Rin had wanted to, with Miku. Still, he had kept his massive mansion, as he quite liked the old thing.

After some time had gone by and Len had cleared up his backlog of assignments, he finally returned to school. Funnily enough, nobody had seemed to notice that he had been off for so long. Nothing had changed. People milled about gossiping and working and going about their own business like a miniature town.

Len had stayed in the school band and he participated in various sports events, winning them all, never coming second or less. He had learnt many new things both from Rin and Miss Luka… including how to flirt. Apparently, that had to be learnt, said Miss Luka. Well, Len had no other choice – was he about to get the proud him fired just because he wouldn't learn something? No. That would doom him to a fate of ice cream, and he shivered at the cold thought of that.

One morning at the start of the new term, Len was walking to school with Rin under the warmth of the sun. Her skirt was dangerously short as always, and his uniform was scruffy and messy as always, though he argued that he was trying his best to be tidy. And it was on this particular morning that the new beginning came about.

"Hey, Len."

"Hmmm?"

"Don't you hate being left-handed? I mean, don't you end up smudging ink when you write?"

The boy contemplated that for a few moments and shrugged. He couldn't care less. So long as he could do stuff with his hands, it was fine by him. Besides, that was why he didn't tend to write in ink.

_Arf!_

Suddenly, the two were confronted by a pack of barking stray dogs in the middle of the street. Rin immediately ran to hide behind Len, blue eyes wide with fear and her shaking hands clutching his. She could feel her brother trembling ever so slightly, although whether it was out of fear, hate or anger, she couldn't tell. Either way, she was terrified. She remembered the time as a young child when she was chased by a dog and was nearly bitten. That was not a good memory.

The dogs advanced, growling, baring their sharp fangs. Rin whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, burying her head in Len's back, tightening her grip on his hand. Len squeezed his hand back comfortingly.

"It… It'll be okay… D-don't worry."

To be perfectly honest, Len had not had to face things like this before, especially in this situation. _Meaning,_ he thought, _I have something to protect._ And he had decided that he would protect her – she, who was dear to him – regardless of the situation or danger. Sighing unsteadily, Len made a growling sound in the back of his throat, imitating those ugly dogs, but in a more intimidating fashion. His growl grew in volume, until those mutts had stopped _their_ growling.

Not quite sure what he was doing, the boy took a sharp step forwards and glared at the dogs… though surely, eye contact was a bad idea. He growled again. And the dogs began to back away, quite unsure of what this strange human was doing. They looked into this bizarre person's cold, blue eyes and saw nothing but a wintry, hateful glare. Without a second thought, the pack of dogs ran away from those invisible icy daggers, terrified, with their tails between their legs.

For a moment, the boy and the girl stood there, holding each other. And the sky was blue and the sun was shining and everything seemed normal and perfect.

"Len…"

"Hm?"

"Wh-what you did just then… that was so not normal."

Len reddened slightly and turned away. He started walking again, dragging Rin by the hand. Rin giggled to herself. Eventually, the siblings arrived at school and entered the classroom, where Miku was waiting with an expectant expression. She didn't tend to walk with the other two, though they shared the same house – she didn't want to  
intrude upon their sibling relationship. Of course, the other reason was that she still didn't like Len very much.

Rin sat down next to Miku and the two girls started talking as if it were to be their last day together. _Honestly, girls talk so much, _frowned Len. They talked non-stop in school and at home and at the café… _everywhere._ Surely they didn't _need_ to talk so much. Besides, what was there even to talk about? He sighed.

Sitting down in his own place, Len got out his first lesson books. He had left his glasses act now, and whenever somebody asked, he would say that he had contacts. Luckily, nobody really paid attention, nor did they care very much. He plugged in his earphones and, bored, started listening to his music in attempt to drown out the noise from the busy outside world. He laid his head on his desk and groaned. Life was so boring when it was ordinary. School was so boring. Such a waste of time.

It took longer than usual for the teacher to come in. It was a new teacher and she was late. Not only that but… she didn't seem to be abiding with the dress code either. Her tight red jacket contrasted greatly against her tight black skirt, which was definitely much shorter than regulation-allowed. It was, perhaps, even shorter than Rin's. Even her brown hair was short.

This appearance caused a ripple of whispers to spread through the classroom. Who was this teacher?

Len looked up from his morning nap on his desk and pulled out one earphone. He blinked sleepily and saw the figure of a familiar lady standing at the front. Her brown-red eyes were warm, but Len knew not to trust such a thing. He sat up and smirked. Combing a hand through his messy blond hair mass, he stood up, and the rest of the class half-consciously followed his lead.

_Like sheep,_ thought Len with a grin.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning…" the class's voice faded away as they had no idea how to address their teacher. Len groaned in his mind as he played along. He felt the teacher's eyes settle on him and he took out his other earphone, with a mockingly guilty expression. He sighed again. Master Shion must have sent her to watch over him.

_I can take care of myself,_ he thought, and made a mental note to tell that to both the teacher and Master Shion later on. The teacher wrote her name on the board.

"But you can call me Meiko," she winked and sat on the teacher's desk, swinging her legs like a little girl. Confused and bewildered, the class sat down, unsure of what to expect from now on. It was going to be a bumpy ride.

Miss Meiko was onto registration now. Len had always found it awkward as his name used to be the only one without a surname. And it was all the more awkward when the old-fashioned male teachers called them _by_ _their surnames_… because he didn't have one.

The new teacher chewed on the top of her pen as she read out the names on the register one by one. She was expecting a name at the very end with no surname. But when she had got to the bottom, she smiled and laughed quietly to herself. He sure knew how to take care of himself, that boy.

She stared at the smudged blue ink at the end of the register and looked up to see that boy who had his head proudly propped up on his left hand, which was streaked with blue. He grinned cheekily at her. Well, off to finish registration.

"Kagamine?" she said.

Len waved playfully. "Here."


	12. Bonus Chapter: Q&A

Hehe, thanks for reading the last chapter and letting me know your thoughts on it. Yeah, I do think the ending was kinda awkward. If you have any ideas how to fix it, please let me know! I'll try to do an alternative ending or change it~ but thanks a million, especially for sticking with me this far. I'm not generally great at writing and I tend to give up after writing the opening, so this is quite an achievement for me. Okay, I'll shut up now.

Um, well this is the bonus chapter. It's just a question and answer session between Len, Rin and Miku so it's loads and loads of talking. Ahaha, there's a bit of foul language (tut tut Len) and some awkward question(s). Sorry if it's a bit OOC in places. I suppose I'm still not great at writing characters consistently! (and I can't draw consistently either) I wrote this over a few days so if the writing style changes a bit, that's why.

Ah, I should shut up now. *cries* H-hope you don't find this too bad~ asdfghjklwerhjkk,swertklolasdfgh...

*crawls into the kitchen to get food* (yeah, I'm very strange. my friends can testify on that)

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha

* * *

Bonus Chapter

Rin woke up and rubbed her eyes. She had just had the strangest dream… She didn't even want to think about it any more. It was a Saturday, and she always woke up early on Saturdays, whereas Len slept in – usually until lunchtime. He always managed to come down in time for lunch.

Rin went downstairs. Len had the top floor in their three-storey house, whilst she and Miku shared the second floor. Each floor was massive – probably four or five times larger than any swimming pool she had ever seen in her life and she had seen the ones they used in the Olympics. She often wondered what Len did with the whole of the top floor. He had told her not to go upstairs and she had never asked. Shrugging to herself, Rin entered the front room and paused with surprise written on her face.

"Speak of the devil, eh?"

Rin went over to the sofa, where Len lay, staring blankly at the white ceiling. Since when was _he_ awake at 8:30 in the morning?

"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking that, genius," retorted Rin.

"Thanks for the compliment," said the blond boy without blinking, or taking his gaze off the ceiling.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

"An hour ago."

Wow, that _was_ early, thought Rin. Then a more important question came to her mind, "How long have you been staring at that ceiling?"

"Since I finished breakfast."

"Which was…?"

"An hour ago."

With a groan, Rin felt the sudden urge to facepalm, but she did so in her mind. "So you've wasted an hour of your life staring at a ceiling which, above all, is plain white."

"Yep," came the answer with such a matter-of-fact tone to it, Rin felt somewhat frustrated by it.

"Well, at least you're not… asleep."

"Not asleep, but _bored_," grumbled the bond boy with extra emphasis on the word 'bored'. He yawned and stretched like a cat would. With a pathetic sigh, he continued with his complaints, "There's nothing to do. Nothing _at all_ to do. It's so damn boring."

Rin frowned. "So you prefer killing –"

"_Skilfully assassinating_," corrected Len.

"Whatever! You prefer _that_ to having a week off duty?"

"Hmm…" mumbled the boy thoughtfully, "Well, 'cos if there's nothing to do –"

Len stopped mid-sentence as he was slapped on the cheek. He put a hand over where he had been hit. It stung. There was sure to be a red mark there. He closed his eyes and sighed again. It was strange, almost unfair. He enjoyed the thrill of the hunt – he couldn't deny that. He liked it: the excitement, the thrill, the adrenaline… without such things, there was no kick in this boring, boring life humans lived.

Upon opening his eyes, he was greeted by an angry, teary-eyed Rin. Suddenly feeling awfully guilty, Len stood up and hugged his sister. "I'm sorry."

"And _never_ say that again."

"Okay," he said softly as Rin wiped her tears on his hoodie.

Miku, who was standing quietly in the doorway, smiled as the scene unfolded in front of her very eyes. It was like something out of a fairytale. _So cute!_ She walked into the room and suggested, "How about we find something interesting to do? I'm sure Rin and I still have a few questions for our little blond boy."

Rin grinned, "Great idea!"

Len glared, "No way."

The twins looked at each other and began to talk simultaneously again.

"W-well, if Len doesn't want to…"

"A-ah, it's fine if Rin wants to…"

Miku groaned. Those two were always like that. it would drive her crazy one day. But for now, at least it was funny. And cute.

So the threesome sat on the sofa with Rin in the middle as things still hadn't settled between Len and Miku – always arguing, always at each other's throats. To ease the tension, Rin started off the questions.

"So, you're on first-name terms with Miss Luka and Miss Meiko? What about Kaito Shion?"

"They don't mind, especially if it's me. But Master Shion is Master Shion." Len said the last sentence with such finality about it that the girls decided to move on.

Miku changed the subject, "So who taught you to fight and all that stuff?"

Len turned away and ignored her. He somewhat held his chin high to preserve what dignity and pride he had. It took some persuading from a fed-up Rin before he deigned to answer: "Master Shion, personally. Miss Meiko teaches first aid."

"So what about singing?" asked his sister.

"Hehe. It's a talent, I guess," he grinned with a wink. He then glared pointedly at Miku and added, "One of _many_ talents. Sorry to those who don't have any."

With a deep breath, Miku tried her best not to snap at him. Or get angry. Or throw something at that _insolent_ idiot. "But why the concert?"

"Not your business."

"Oh, Len…"

"…"

"Oh, come on! Why are you two always like this?" exclaimed Rin, annoyed.

"It's not _my_ fault," protested the blue-haired girl, pouting.

"So is," argued Len, almost like a young child refusing to give up. He put on a face of mock sadness and hurt and whined, "You were so cold to me… You wouldn't even give me a night at your apartment. You wanted to leave me out there in the pouring rain like a dog…"

"Like the dog you are! Why should I have been kind to you?"

Rin hit the arguing duo on the heads at the same time. She growled, "Cut it _out_ you two. Or else…"

"Yes ma'am," jested the blond boy.

"You see! That proves my point, dog. Whatever Rin says, it's always, 'okay sis!' or 'sure thing!' or… or… argh! Drives me crazy!"

Len kept his composure and tried his best not to lash out. It was hard, considering he had been off-duty and all this… anger was building up inside of him. He wanted to _smash_ something… and smash it hard. With a groan, he countered the argument, "I prefer the term _obedient cat_, thank you very much."

Miku shrugged uncaringly, "Whatever."

Rin sighed. Such a hopeless situation. It was like watching a cat and dog fight, though who would be the cat and who would be the dog was another question. "Let's move on, shall we?"

"Okay. But about the concert. If you really want to know, Rin," Len said with extra emphasis on his sister's name, "It was to get to someone. Hehe. No more detail though."

"But you sing really well."

"So do you, sis. I hear you singing in the shower all the time."

"R-really?" stammered a blushing Rin.

Miku felt the urge to throw in an insult once again, "What sort of a stalker are you?"

"The hell?" shouted Len. "_Stalker_? _What_? We live in the same house! I can hear her from upstairs _and_ downstairs!"

"Eh? A-am I that loud when I sing?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!"

"The point is that he's a stalker."

"Am _not_! If you don't have any more questions, I'm leaving. I have better things to do than argue with the like of _you_."

"Yeah, yeah. Say what you like. Questions… questions… Ah. Do you like working at the café?"

"_Tch_. You and your stupid questions."

"Len, just answer it, please…" cried Rin. She had almost lost the will to live.

"Okay, okay. Um, it's alright, I guess. I get free cake after my shift, so it's all good."

Rin thought for a moment and said, "How did you get to know Miss Luka and the café?"

"Master Shion told me about it. He gave me a choice of ice cream parlour or café. It's a no-brainer. Café it was."

"And your café thing… acting all hopeless…"

"Oh, my acting? My falling over and breaking things and such?"

"Yeah, you're good at that."

"Hehe," Len laughed, putting on a cute act again, "I have to be good at everything, right? But don't I look cute? Miss Luka says I do. To be honest," he dropped his act again, "I don't quite get this stuff."

The two girls marvelled at how shamelessly he could say all this. Miku found the chance to butt in again, "It's not always a good thing, falling over especially. While you're at it, why don't you go fall into a manhole?"

The boy glared and suppressed the urge to lash out. Again.

Miku smirked. She was on a roll now and had another question to fire him up, "Say, Len."

"What?" the boy in question growled menacingly.

"Are you a virgin?"

"WHAT THE FUCK? What sort of a question is that?!" he roared immediately.

"Umm… o-okay. Len… Len, calm down," Rin said soothingly. She felt she was playing the role of a wolf-whisperer. Though she agreed that it was quite an inappropriate question and Miku was indeed crossing the line. She made a mental note to tell her friend that later.

All the while, Len listed all the different and excruciatingly painful or torturous ways he could go about killing that blue-haired… thing. Suppressing the massive urge to lash out was even harder than before. And when he _did_ he would make sure it was a fatal attack.

"Ah!" Rin cried, desperately trying to move away from this dangerous situation, "How about this: what was that room I met you in at your big house? Y'know, the one with all that filming equipment?"

"Uh… a filming room?" answered Len bluntly, still glaring murderously at Miku.

"Well no," scorned Miku. That earned her yet another intense glare from Len. Those blue eyes could be scary if they wanted to be. Terrifyingly scary.

Len calmed himself and turned to Rin explaining, "It's for whenever we had to film something. Ransom messages, fake footage and whatnot. I'm not sure I should be telling you this though…"

"It's fine, I won't tell," smiled Rin. "And what about the dog?"

"Ah, you mean Rookie the German Shepherd who scared the life outta you? He was like a guard dog to the house. As much as I hate dogs, he did his job well and was awfully loyal. I couldn't bring myself to hate him, no matter how much I tried. A dog is a dog, but Rookie is different. I think."

Miku sniggered and Rin hit her again on the head, although only very lightly. The blue-haired girl sighed and asked, "So you know first aid?"

Len rolled his eyes and groaned, "Well, duh. Mainly basic stuff though, since I've never cared much about saving lives. I can treat cuts and stuff."

"You said 'stuff' twice. Say something else," Miku complained. She was just being picky to annoy him, obviously, and she knew that _he_ knew that. All the better.

"Anyway, are you quite finished? I think I'm gonna go play computer games."

As Len stood up, ready to leave, Rin caught his sleeve. "W-wait!"

With a sigh, the blond boy patiently stood and waited for his sister to carry on speaking. She did, "I… I still don't know an awful lot about you."

Len took a deep breath and a minute or two to arrange his thoughts. It was true, he was still a bit of an introvert and an antisocial… person. Other people tended to put it other ways. "Jerk" and "delinquent" were pretty common. _But since when was _I_ a delinquent?_ he often thought to himself. Gosh, the world was such a harsh place. Cats prefer easy lives. Dogs have owners; cats have servants. With a blink, he snapped back to the real world and back to his original thoughts. The girls were gazing at him expectantly. Oh, yeah. Information about himself. Well, he had never bothered to read the data sheets about himself, since that would have been such a waste of time. He only really knew numbers and measurements and the limits of his abilities and potentials and more numbers. Still…

"Name: Len Kagamine.

"156cm tall.

"Likes: computer games, cats, listening to music, singing, playing the keytar and sports. And sleeping.

"Dislikes: spicy things, dogs, a lot of attention, school, yada yada.

"Favourite colour – yellow. Also blood-red and black are nice.

"Occupation: schoolboy and… well… let's move on.

"Currently 14 years of age and single.

"Happy now?"

With that, he turned his gaze to the ground, somewhat feeling embarrassed. He had never let out so much information about himself before. At least, before, it was never true. But now… now…

"Len… that's… that's a lot of stuff," said Rin with disbelieving eyes. She was overwhelmed by this torrent of information, though not much of it was actually new to her.

Miku grinned and rested her elbow on Rin's shoulder in a playful manner. "He's opening up, that's what." The two girls started giggling.

Len felt his cheeks fluch red hot. Ugh. What had he done now? With not so much as a "goodbye" he left the room and stormed hurriedly upstairs to his room.

When the giggling had died out, there was a pause, and something dawned upon the two girls. Rin stared at Miku and they exchanged surprised glances.

"D-did he just say… 'single'?"

"Y-yeah… he… he did."


	13. Lying

Yay! This story isn't dead! I have finally got round to reviving it! Okay, this is a new arc, (I suppose) to my story. I hope it's okay... I'm still working it out as I go along... I can't plan stuff out. It just doesn't work... And yay! I'm changing the whole format of chapter names. No more 'the Schoolgirl' this, 'the Schoolgirl' that. Please tell me if I'm being inconsistent with my details though! (if not, Len might suddenly turn out to be a dog-lover)

Updates will be awfully slow, sorry guys.

Hope you enjoy it though! And thanks for the support!

(There's a tiny bit of swearing in this chapter)

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha etc.

* * *

Lying

_I'm sick of lying._

The boy's finger trembled on the trigger. Len sat back for a brief moment and breathed out a shaky sigh. He closed his blue eyes, hoping to get a little bit of rest. His legs ached and longed to move. He fingered his short blond ponytail, getting awfully restless. How long had he been here? Hours? It felt like a lifetime.

Suddenly, the cold _click_ of a locking door caught his attention. Immediately, he lay back down on his stomach. He could see everything from up here, on the roof of some old building. Peering through the scope of his rifle and spied his target.

The night sky was dotted with stars and the moon shone, eerie and unforgiving. Grey wisps of cloud passed over that silver circle every so often, accompanied with a frosty breeze.

Below his vantage point, was the Dark Alley. It was called this because of what went on in it. Actually, nobody actually knew _exactly_ what went on in the Dark Alley, but that was why it was dubbed _Dark_. There was an open door in a derelict flat, but the Organisation had been informed that it was more than what meets the eye. By the open door, there stood a bald man. He wore a navy blue, chequered shirt and coarse grey trousers… just like Master Shion said he would.

Len took a deep breath. He cleared his mind completely and focussed on the task at hand. It was a simple task: shoot and leave. The bullets he used were supplied by the Organisation and were completely untraceable by any means. Usually, Len would only have to take one bullet for such a simple task, but today…

Something had been on his mind lately. He could never get out of his head the image of his warmly smiling sister when he'd promised not to kill anyone any more and decline all missions allocated to him that required him to do such a thing. And yet… he couldn't. He knew he couldn't. So he lied and he continued to lie to her. But now he was sick of lying. He didn't want to lie to Rin any more. He didn't want to lie to someone who meant the world to him. But there was no other choice…

With a violent shake of his head, Len got rid of those distracting thoughts. It was absolutely critical that he concentrated, or else he'd miss. He had two bullets with him today, though he hoped that he wouldn't have to use the second. To be honest, he'd hoped that he wouldn't have to use any at all.

Now, his target was about to turn around. Len shifted ever so slightly. His finger tensed again on the trigger. At least he wasn't trembling this time. Determined, the blond boy in black waited for exactly the right moment…

He shot.

It was silent, like the flight of a soundless owl hunting its prey. Silent. Deadly.

Len was about to pack up and leave when he realised a dreadful thing. All of a sudden, there was shouting and pointing. His eyes widened in horror and he mentally kicked himself.

_Shit._

He'd missed. The thing he dreaded most had finally come true. This was a nightmare, but certainly not a dream. Hastily, he lay back down and shot before anything else happened. This time he hit his target. His prey died instantly.

Len stayed down for a moment, making sure that nothing else would happen. He was scared and cursed himself for being so careless. He was lucky _he_ wasn't the one who was lying down in a pool of blood.

Grey clouds blocked out the moon, casting an awful icy spell. A bitter wind picked up. Then, the first few drops of rain fell, slowly but steadily. As the rain began to get heavier, Len finally packed up, making sure he didn't leave any traces at all behind. He couldn't afford to mess up even more.

The rain was falling relentlessly as he made his way home, silent as a shadow. It drenched him and chilled him to the bone. His blond hair dripped with the rainwater and his black clothes clung unpleasantly to his clammy skin. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Eventually, he arrived back home. Len lifted his head and gazed at the endless night sky, so black and foreboding. It was as if it was telling him that something would go wrong. Something would get worse. Rain fell on his face and formed rivers down his pale cheeks, mingling with salty tears of regret.

In his heart, he was arguing with himself. Should he finally confess to Rin that it had all been a lie? Sure, she would be angry at him, but he could cope with that, and even her anger couldn't last forever. After all, if he left it any longer to tell her, the consequences would be worse, right? Len tried to convince himself; he tried to make up his mind. If he didn't tell her, it would always be on his mind and he risked being distracted again. He couldn't afford to screw up his missions all the time.

Running a hand through his drenched hair, Len hoisted the black bag containing the rifle over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, full of resolve. He'll tell her. Today. Now.

Quietly, he opened the front door to his house. In a flash of blonde and blue, he was tackled by Rin in a flying hug. She tightened her embrace as she sobbed into the front of his jacket. Her eyes were red from crying all evening and her cheeks were flushed. It was midnight, and she was still awake, probably waiting for her dear twin brother's return.

"Wh-where have you been?" she demanded in a wavering voice. She looked up at him with watery blue eyes. Len's heart warmed up and he smiled half-heartedly.

"You're soaking wet! I'll get… I'll get you a towel…"

Rin was about to leave when Len grabbed her hand.

"Look, Rin," he began. He glanced away. Rin noticed the seriousness in his eyes.

"What is it?" she whispered.

There was a long pause as Len tried to pluck up the courage to say what he had to. In the end, he shook his head. "I'll tell you tomorrow. It's not… that important anyway."

Rin gazed at him and said softly, "You… you didn't kill anyone did you?"

There was another pause, but shorter this time, before Len replied with a grin, "Of course not! I promised you I wouldn't, right? Why would I lie to you?"

Bursting into a smile, Rin laughed. And she left to fetch her brother a towel.

That left Len all alone again. His grin faded away as he bit the inside of his lip.

_Why am I such a coward?_


	14. Telling the Truth

Yay! It's another chapter... finally... There seems to be a lot of talking in this one. And I fail at coming up with chapter names... ahahaha...

Thanks for the continuous support everyone! Thanks for the reviews and everything - I shall try my best to surprise you as the story progresses, because even I don't know what it's going to turn out to be like! (not a great way to write stories, but hey ho)

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha

* * *

Telling the Truth

Rin rolled over in the warmth of her bed, under the soft duvet. She couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard she tried. Her blue eyes were heavy with sleep, but she was afraid of sleeping then dreaming a nightmare.

She still remembered vividly how Len had stood there, stiff and silent as she'd handed him the towel. He had snapped out of his trance quickly enough and grinned cheekily at her, but the smile never reached his eyes. She had tried to smile back, but soon excused herself and left, saying that she was too sleepy.

Len always called her an idiot, but the truth was, she wasn't as stupid as he thought she was.

_He's lying to me_, thought Rin, as she curled up into a tight ball on her bed. She felt tears sting her eyes. Why was he lying? Why would he have to lie? _He's breaking_ _our promise, isn't he?_ _I'm not stupid!_

Rin vented her frustration out onto her fluffy pillow. She punched it over and over again and when she felt somewhat calmer, she lay down and began to cry. The night sky was cold and merciless, looking down at the world with its uncaring scowl. Rain still fell like an angel's lament, just as tears still fell from Rin's sad, closed eyes.

Before she finally fell asleep, she decided that tomorrow, she would confront Len and ask him the truth. No. She would _force_ it out of him, even if he didn't want to answer. And if Rin wanted to do something, she got it done…

The next morning, Rin rolled out of bed, commando-style, energetic as she was. After getting dressed as quickly as possible, she ran down the stairs, two by two and went to find Len. Bursting into the kitchen, she yelled out her brother's name, but there was no reply. Instead, a square of yellow paper stuck to the fridge by a banana-shaped magnet caught her eye.

"What…?" Rin ripped the piece of paper off the fridge and screwed it up in anger. She let out a cry of frustration. The note, which was now a crumpled ball in the bin, had read: _Been called out. Master S. wants to talk. Ciao x_

How dare he just go off like that! No warning, no anything! Then there was another note, this time stuck to the fridge by an-orange-shaped magnet: _Oh, by the way, we're out of bananas. Could you go buy some, cute little sister?_

Rin stormed out of the kitchen, ripping up the second note and shouted to nobody in particular, "_NO!_" She hoped her _cute brother_ could feel her wrath right now.

...

_Knock knock._

"Come in."

Len obediently did as the voice told him to. Closing the door softly behind him, he wondered whether Rin was at all angry at him for leaving just like that. Well, at least she would be kept busy going to the supermarket and buying some fresh bananas. They could perhaps do with some chocolate… but unfortunately, he'd forgotten to mention that. He shrugged.

"Master Shion."

The Master peered at Len from under a messy ink-blue fringe. He was dressed smartly in a suit and loose tie, but it didn't seem to… _suit_ him. In his mind, Len laughed at his little joke. The man was rocking back in his chair, which threatened to break or fall, as he put his feet up on the desk. Paperwork stood in an intimidating pile on the tray labelled _To Do_.

Standing straight, Len glanced around the room. It was somewhat cleaner than the last time he'd been in here, though he seriously doubted that it was Master Shion who had tidied up. He ran a hand through his blond hair. "Why did you call me here?"

"Mmh?" mumbled the man lazily. He waggled a pen in the air and pointed to the empty leather sofa. "Sit down, Len."

Scowling, Len sat down. He was always ignored like this. He sat in silence for what seemed like hours, his scowl deepening, until at last the Master sighed, "Stop making that face. You're not cute when you do that. Smile. Then I'll listen to what you have to say."

Taking a deep breath, Len calmed himself. He _hated_ it when Master Shion treated him like this. And he didn't like being called 'cute' by a grown man. Even if… even if it was this very person who had been a father figure to him and the only person he could trust for so very long. Len faced Master Shion and forced a smile, as sweet as he could make it in such a foul mood. Luckily, the Master was bought and half-smiled. He reached out for a piece of scrap paper and began doodling. "So, little Len. What is it?"

"I was supposed to be asking _you_ that. You're the one who called me here."

"Hmm? Really? Is that all you have to say?" there was a small pause. "I'm not an idiot, Len. I know you want to ask me something."

Len frowned again. He glanced away. He did have something to ask. How could that man even know, though? Hesitantly, he began, "Uh… It's just that… I don't really want to… I mean…" he trailed off pathetically. Master Shion laughed to himself and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Len finally flared up. He'd had enough. "You know _exactly_ what I want! Stop acting dumb, Master!"

"Ah, looks like little Len's angry again," teased the man, his dark blue eyes fixed upon the blond. They smiled ever so cruelly.

"I'm not a puppet for you to order about and tease!" Len shouted, rising from his seat and approaching the desk.

Master Shion regarded him with cool eyes, emotionless. He replied quietly, "Indeed, you're not my puppet. You're a lot smarter than a mere puppet. Hence, you are my dog."

Len felt tears sting his eyes. Turning away, he refused to let the man that was so important to him see him cry. He managed to say, "I _hate_ dogs."

There was a creak as Master Shion stood up and walked over to Len's side. The man smiled gently and embraced Len. The boy sniffed and mumbled a "get off", yet made no move to shake the man off. Master Shion held Len's shaking shoulders and whispered, "You're still such a young child. You haven't changed, have you? No matter how strong you pretend to be, you're always hurting on the inside."

"I _have_ changed. I've learnt what it feels like to love someone."

"Oh, really?" Master Shion let go of Len and took a step back, leaning against the desk, too lazy to stand properly. "And do you love me?"

"No," came the reply, quick as anything.

"Ah, so cold!" wailed the Master in mock lament.

"Just like how you taught me to be," Len countered defiantly.

The Master smirked. Len was sharp, witty and deft. How could he ever have refused a boy like this to join the Organisation? Good thing he didn't. This young boy was probably their most valuable and talented member. _Not counting me, of course, _thought the man with another smirk.

With a sigh, the Master sat down on the comfy sofa, lounging around. He loosened his tie a bit more and undid the topmost button on the shirt to stop himself from suffocating any further. Honestly, smart suits just weren't meant for him. "Tell me what you want, Len. After all, dogs beg."

"I'm not a dog. I am a _person_ with _feelings_."

"And just who was it that taught you it was okay to have _feelings_?"

Len wasn't able to reply to the challenge. He gritted his teeth and scowled again.

"Well," Master Shion carried on, "So long as your _feelings_ don't interfere with your work, then that's fine. Know your priorities, boy. Know your place."

Biting his lip, Len felt himself shaking again. He hated what this man was saying; he hated all that this man did. And yet, he couldn't find it in his heart to hate the man himself. Master Shion had taught him everything and cared for him when he was younger, back when he had been first recruited. Even if what he'd been taught was to be cold and cruel, he could not possibly be cold and cruel towards the man. It didn't make sense. Len could bring himself to hate his own sister if he really wanted to, but never Master Shion, who had been there for him since… since his own useless parents had abandoned him, and his worthless biological father had demanded his murder.

Over and over again, Len had convinced himself it was _not_ okay to think of this ruthless man as his father. Over and over and over again, he had cried himself to sleep because of this. Though he had no real reason as to why he should not love the man, he refused to. And yet… his mind was in turmoil as he argued with his own conflicted emotions. Even now as he stood there, hopeless and helpless as a toddler, he had no idea what to think.

Master Shion saw the conflict in Len's sad blue eyes and smiled to himself, plotting something. All the previous hardness in his voice had melted away when he next spoke, "Len. I have a deal to offer you."

"I don't care," whined the boy like a child having a tantrum.

The Master ignored this and continued, unperturbed, "If you are able to carry out this next assignment successfully, I will no longer give you assassination missions. That's what you wanted from the very beginning, isn't it?"

"There's a catch, isn't there." It was more of a statement than a question. Master Shion could see through Len, but just this once, Len could see straight through his Master.

"Maybe. Will you accept?"

Len was cautious. He was treading on enemy ground, not knowing what would happen next. If he accepted, he would have to carry the task out to the very end. If he didn't take the chance, then he may never be rid of those assassinations. He hated them… and so did Rin. He wouldn't ever be able to face her again, knowing he'd had the chance to finish it all off but refused it.

"Will you accept?" repeated the Master, not impatiently.

There was no more reason to hesitate.

"Yes," came the sure answer.

"Good!" the Master sat up straight again and grinned, rubbing his hands together as if he meant business. "Right, a few questions first."

"What? I never–"

"Okay. Do you like samurai?"

"No, I–"

"Are you interested in older girls?"

"No way. Master, what is the meaning of this–"

"What about older guys?"

"What the hell do _you_ think?" Len shouted.

"Last question. Cross-dressing?"

"Heck, no! Master Shion, why–"

"Hmm, this could be problematic," murmured the Master, fingering his hair vainly. He began talking and pondering to himself, ignoring Len entirely. The blond boy glared with a silent, murderous intent. He realised that the Master was toying with him again.

Len calmed himself again and looked at Master Shion with the best lost-and-hopeless expression he could muster. He even threw in a bit of innocence. Immediately, the Master smiled. The boy swore under his breath. Why did _he_ of all people have to go through this torture?

"Master Shion… please, could you… _elaborate_ matters further?" asked Len with as little malice in his voice as he possibly could.

"Of course, little Len," mocked the Master, laughing in his mind. "This mission is to bring two people to me. Alive. The problem is that they're a tricky pair. They only trust who they want. They're careful and alert at all times. It'll be hard to catch them by surprise."

"Why want them in the first place?"

"They're ex-members of the Organisation. We had a little, ah… _fall-out_ and they left. Not permanently, I think. They just want to cause some trouble for the world. And they have. Only last week, they managed to hack into the Underground's trading centre system and… well, you can read for yourself, if you want. The paper's on my desk."

Len politely declined. He wasn't in the mood to read about petty things. He wanted to get this sorted as quickly as possible. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Like I said: bring them to me alive. I don't care if they're unharmed or not, but _alive_."

There was a moment of silence.

"Aren't you gonna give me any hints?" Len complained.

"Hmm… Well currently, they're trying to recruit a girl for some reason or another. We don't quite know why yet. They're being very specific, see. They want a blonde girl of about fourteen – your age and around your height. A scout found the advertisement in one of the black market buildings in the Dark Alley."

Len grumbled, "You want me to cross-dress as a girl to get to them? I don't think that's gonna work particularly well."

"Not necessarily. I'm sure you can find someone to do the job for you while you watch from a safe distance."

"What? Who would be stupid enough to be willing to do that? And why do I have to find someone? Why can't you…" Len trailed off again, as realisation dawned upon him.

Master Shion smiled a knowing smile. "Because you know the perfect person."


	15. Cheating

I've been in the mood to write recently (though that doesn't quite mean that what I write will be great). So here you go, another chapter! Seems like the chapters are getting longer... Wow. Two thousand words... When I go back to school updates will be a lot slower. Probably.

Again, please correct me if I've made any errors in grammar, spelling, inconsistency, etc. (I'm awfully inconsistent...)

Thanks to everyone who's supporting me - both new and old readers - thank you! Especially _Honeycloud of RiverClan _and _aira2889_, for being with me since the first story (arc?). Thank you all for your kind words and support! *sniffles with tears of emotion /hit*

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha etc. I'm not sure if I'll bother with this disclaimer thingummy any more... We all know I don't own Vocaloid. Unfortunately.

* * *

Cheating

"Hey Rin… stop sulking will you?"

Rin turned over on the sofa, pulling a cushion over her head, trying to block out her best friend's attempts to cheer her up. When Miku _still_ wouldn't shut up, Rin threw the cushion at her instead. Pathetically, she missed her target.

There was a loud _bleep bleep_ from Miku's phone and Rin sat up straight. "Who was that from? Was it my useless brother? Is he not coming back again?" She sounded awfully annoyed, her tone rather scathing, as if she didn't want Len to come back at all.

Miku checked her messages. Shaking her head, she commented plainly, "Nope, just the phone company."

"Stupid anticlimax," grumbled Rin, falling back onto the sofa to stare blankly at the ceiling in the way her brother often did when he was _ brother_. That useless, lying scaredy-cat. Why couldn't he tell her the truth for once? What was she to him now? What was he scared of? He was betraying their trust by doing that… not telling her everything… that was _cheating_!

It was almost noon and Rin had been doing nothing for hours. Miku had drifted in and out of the room with cookies and magazines and whatnot. School had broken up for holidays last week and so far, these holidays had been uneventful and deadly boring.

_Bleep bleep._

Rin groaned. "Is _that_ my good-for-nothing brother?"

With a sigh, Miku said, "Rin, you talk about him as if he were your husband or something."

Flushing bright red, the blonde yelled back hotly, "He's NOT!"

"I never said he was," Miku replied casually with a shrug of her shoulders.

Apologising for the sudden outburst, Rin went back to staring at the interestingly blank ceiling. She yawned – spending less than four hours sleeping really took its toll. She tried to start a conversation, "So who texted you?"

"Well," began the other girl, somewhat with an air of pride, "I made some new friends yesterday, and it seems they want to meet you. See, I told them about you yesterday. They're really nice and friendly. They just told me that they're in the café Len works at now. You wanna come?"

"As long as Len's not there."

Miku smiled wearily. Rin had been so full of energy when she woke up this morning. Now, she was almost half-dead. Lazily, Rin rolled off the sofa, landing on her feet.

The girls went to put some shoes on and, as they agreed that they both looked presentable already, they left for the café at once. When they arrived, Rin checked through the glass windows to see if that stupid brother of hers was in there. He wasn't. Her heart sank. _Why am I feeling disappointed? It's good that he's not here! I don't want him here!_ But even so, she knew she was lying to herself.

Rin followed Miku into the small, homely café, where the sweet smell of coffee and cake filled the air with a tempting aroma. Glancing around, Rin caught sight of the owner of the café: a young woman with light pink hair which flowed down to her waist. She wore a simple dress under a black apron, tied with a gold ribbon. She was always smiling and laughing, and _always_ had that lock of hair draped over her left shoulder. Miss Luka made eye contact with Rin and waved. Rin waved back, though she wasn't quite in the mood for smiling.

Just then, Miku tapped on Rin's shoulder and dragged her over to a table in the corner of the café, away from most of the chattering and gossiping. Sitting by the table for four were two people.

One was a girl, older than both Rin and Miku, her lime green hair just shorter than shoulder length, with two longer bits which fell down past her shoulders, framing her cheerful and bubbly face. She wore a bright orange skirt and top, which both seemed to be purposely just too small to fit properly. She wore such bright colours; it hurt Rin's eyes just to look at her.

The other person was a man with a gentle, faraway expression. His waist-length, deep-purple hair was tied up in a high ponytail and he wore a katana at his side. Rin frowned at that… were you _allowed_ to bring weapons out into the open like that? The man was in a samurai-like getup, but instead of the stereotypical armour, he donned a flowing white robe, lined with purple and hints of blue. Supposedly, most people just passed him off as a cosplayer.

With a smile to herself, Rin thought, _trust Miku to make such strange friends._

Enthusiastic as ever, Miku introduced them all, "Rin, this here is Gumi –" she gestured towards the bright-haired girl who waved back, "– and this here is Gakupo." She gestured at the supposed cosplayer. Rin smiled politely, even though doubt kept nibbling at her thoughts.

"Hi," the blonde introduced herself, "I'm Rin. Nice to meet you."

Gumi giggled childishly. "Nice to meet you too! We've heard a lot about you from Miku."

Gakupo just nodded, making no comment whatsoever. If Rin had thought that it was rude, she didn't complain or show it.

The two girls sat down next to each other, opposite the already sitting pair. They all ordered something to eat – cake for the three girls and a simple fruit yoghurt for the samurai. Gumi asked for another smoothie, but a different flavour this time, whilst the girls had frappes and Gakupo had some herbal tea.

They all (except Gakupo, who stayed quiet for most of it) talked together and shared jokes and gossiped until an hour had trickled by. When they had paid the bill and were about to leave, Gumi grabbed Rin and Miku by the arms and suggested, "How about we go to the park? Or shopping? I don't mind."

Miku thought about it, but shook her head, "Sorry, I have some work to catch up on. Maybe next time?"

The green-haired girl pouted and tugged on Rin. "Hey, hey Rin… You'll come, right? I have nothing to do today and I'm bored." She behaved like a girl a lot younger than her age.

With a shrug, Rin agreed. She would have to go home quickly first to get changed. After all, "I'm a girl and a girl has to look her best going out, right?" The foursome all went over to the three-storey house which the girls and Len lived in.

"That's a big house." The purple-haired man placed his hand on his sword hilt and stared upwards, tilting his head back.

"Stop stating the obvious, Gakupo," mumbled Gumi, nudging her partner. "Honestly. You never say a thing and when you do, it's nothing interesting. Or clever."

Rin fished out the house keys from a pocket and opened the door, inviting the rest of the group in. She skipped up the steps, saying she'd be quick. With a laugh, Gumi launched herself onto the sofa, earning a frown from the stern-faced samurai. Miku kept the guests entertained for the best of ten minutes, when Rin came back downstairs with a new loose top and a messenger-style bag by her side. "Let's go, then."

Waving, Miku bade farewell to the leaving threesome. Closing the door behind her, she sighed. It was her fault, really, for not handing in her project on time. So now she had to work on it in the holidays.

"Argh…" she plodded up the stairs in frustration. After sitting at her desk for around 15 minutes, chewing her pen, with a still-blank piece of paper in front of her, she decided to go make something to eat.

In the kitchen downstairs, she grabbed a few biscuits and poured out a glass of strawberry milkshake. Sitting down on the sofa, she turned on the TV, in an attempt to get some inspiration. How did the teacher expect her to write a ten-paged story? Everyone else had found it easy and got pretty good marks. He'd tried to hide it, but Len even got full marks.

The girl groaned again and began nibbling her chocolate-chip biscuits, aimlessly flicking the channels. She didn't like animal documentaries or historical documentaries; the soap operas and dramas nowadays were pathetic and the cartoons and anime weren't on until an hour or so later.

Time trickled ever so slowly by… even slower than this morning. The next time she glanced wearily at the clock, another half hour had gone by. With a heavy sigh, Miku forced herself onto her feet and tidied away her mess. As her glass was set on the rack to dry, she heard the front door bang open. Someone sounded like they were in a rush.

Turning around and stepping out of the kitchen, she caught sight of Len. He looked awful: exhausted, angry, upset and frustrated all at the same time. Those piercing blue eyes settled on the girl. He demanded, "Where's Rin?"

"She's not here right now. Uh, Len…"

The boy dashed upstairs, faster than the wind, his footsteps ringing hard and loud on the ceiling above Miku's head. She feared that the floorboards and ceiling may actually come crashing down. Standing in stunned silence, she listened to the slamming of doors, shouts of aggravation, the sound of things thrown against walls and the smashing of glass and other fragile objects.

Len stormed back down the stairs, a deep scowl on his face. But behind all that fury was the expression of genuine concern. He glared at Miku as if she'd done something terribly wrong. The girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, Len, what's up? What's gotten into you?"

"None of your business," he growled back grouchily.

Miku sighed and gasped as she remembered something. "Oh, your sister asked me to pass on a message to you if I saw you."

That grabbed Len's attention pretty quickly. If he were a dog (which he wouldn't have wanted to be) his ears would have perked up. "What? What did she say?"

The girl cleared her throat and recited, "_Len, you big idiot! Don't run off like that all the time! It's seriously annoying and you better not be here when I get back! I don't want to see your stupid, good-for-nothing face, so bug off!_"

If the boy was surprised, he didn't show it. There was no change in emotion in his eyes or features. A moment later, Miku could have sworn that his eyes took on an ominously dark hue. She hastily added, "Don't shoot the messenger."

When Len next spoke, his voice was a lot softer, with a sad tone to it, "Is that… what she really wanted to say to me? Is that all?"

Miku nodded and answered softly, "Yeah… Sorry."

As if in a dream, Len walked slowly over to the sofa and sat down. He stared ahead, his eyes blank as the ceiling. He clenched his jaw and turned his head to look out of the window. All his previous rage and frustration had vanished completely. Now, he seemed like a lifeless mannequin.

Suddenly, he sneezed and frowned. "What's that smell?"

"What smell?" asked the girl, taking a step forwards.

Len began lifting up cushions here and there and scrabbling around the sofa, turning around on his hands and knees, taking a sniff every so often, like a dog (again, another comparison he wouldn't have liked).

Triumphantly, he held up a square of lime green paper. It smelt of a strange perfume. Rin definitely wouldn't use something like that, so Len ruled out that possibility. Their house didn't have any paper of that sort of luminous green, so he decided that it was from somebody else. Wait. No. it couldn't have been…

Len's heart started racing again, beating hard and fast. Trying to stay calm, he asked, "Did someone come in here today?"

"Yeah, we had –"

"Where's Rin?"

"She went shopping with –"

"Where?" shouted Len impatiently.

"They mentioned the Andales?"

With that, Len launched off the sofa dramatically and pulled his shoes on hurriedly. He was about to leave, but he ran upstairs again and after a few seconds, he came back down with a long black bad over his shoulder.

"Um, Len…?"

He slammed the front door behind him, leaving Miku confused as always. Another few second later, the door opened again and Len huffed, "Oh. And if you see Rin, tell her not to take my stuff." Then he disappeared outside again, this time for good.

For a couple of minutes, Miku stood in bemused silence.

Sprinting as fast as he could, Len was racing around the streets, staying in the shadows. He knew it. The Andales… it was the closest shopping mall to the Dark Alley. He swore under his breath. They had made their move first… Len wouldn't forgive them for that – he'd make them pay dearly. In these games, he liked to be the one to make first moves. If anyone else took action before him, they were going against the rules of _his_ game.

That meant they were cheating.


	16. Playing Fair

Long time no update (I think)! I've been kinda busy with real life stuffs including revision and whatnot. Got (mock) exams the week after next... fun times~ That probably means that I won't be updating any time soon until they're all over, but you never know. Writing is so much better than exams.

Anyways... I don't remember what I was going to say. I even had it in my head until two seconds ago. Ah well.

Thank you very much for reviews and everything~ It's nice to know people like this story! I think it may have become a part of my life (if that makes any sense at all).

So yup. Here's a new chapter! Perhaps it's a bit strange and the ending is different to how I had planned it at first. I'm pathetic at planning things. Let's just go with the flow!

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha etc.

* * *

Playing Fair

_Riiing riiing…_

Len fumbled with anxious fingers as he picked up his phone. Situated on top of an old, abandoned building, not unlike the one he had been on when he'd killed the bald man, he listened intently over the strong wind which had picked up. His hair swayed and his face was growing colder by the minute as the temperature began to drop. The weather forecast had lied. Again.

"Hello? Rin? Where are you?" he kept his voice low but stern so his sister could tell that this was important. When there was no reply, he asked again, but there was only silence on the other end. Suddenly scared, the young blond's heart started to pound, louder and quicker until he could bear it no more. There were small sounds coming through, quiet and hard to make out.

Biting his lip, Len stared at the rifle in front of him which was only half out of the bag. "Rin? Are you there? What's wrong?" He hated being ignored. He hated it when people didn't answer him when he wanted them to. "Rin? This isn't funny. Seriously now, where –"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your voice." That was the sharp reply. Len's blue eyes widened in surprise. That was… unexpected. But something about her voice sounded off.

"Then why did you ring me up in the first place?" he countered back.

"Because this is the closest thing to talking to you in person. And I wanted to tell you that you're a lying, good-for-nothing _idiot_. You can go back to your old house and live with your imaginary dogs and cats for all I care. Just don't come back!"

"R-Rin, what are you saying? We… We're siblings, right? Twins… how could I just –"

"_I don't care_! Just shut up and leave me alone, got it? I called to say goodbye. That's all."

Confused and frustrated, Len continued to listen carefully. Strange. He thought he could hear muffled crying through the speaker. Rin wasn't the one crying. Someone else in the background was. Before he could utter another word, she hung up on him.

The boy sat down on the rooftop overlooking the Dark Alley in a different perspective. Drawing his knees up to his chin, he hugged his arms around his legs, brooding over the sudden turn of events. He had no idea what was going on. He had no idea where his sister was. He had no idea what she wanted him to do. Leave? Disappear?

_I don't have to care if she doesn't want me to. I can disappear if she wants me to._ Len was overwhelmed by a torrent of emotions. His head hurt from all that thinking. His hands hurt from making such tight fists. But most of all, his heart hurt. He had forgotten how much it hurt to be rejected like that. Once upon a time, he was used to being bullied and teased and hit and kicked about. Now, it came as a shock back into reality.

As the winds blew and howled, a broken and lonely boy sat on an abandoned rooftop, crying ceaselessly to himself.

...

"That should do it."

With a sly grin, the bright-green haired girl slipped the mobile phone back into Rin's messenger bag and sat down on a nearby chair. Stretching her arms, she yawned, listening to the blonde girl's sniffing. They had tied her up onto a wooden chair with thick ropes and tight knots, making sure that she couldn't move.

They were in a small, abandoned warehouse situated somewhere close to the Dark Alley. Water leaked from the roof and fell with a forlorn _plink plink_ onto the hard ground. The walls were bare and the room was cold. High windows lined one wall, near the roof, allowing some light to filter through. The roof was made from corrugated metal which was rusted in some places and dented in others.

This was such a typical situation. Gumi sighed with boredom, watching Gakupo's emotionlessly calm face as he closed his eyes for some rest. Whether he was sleeping or not, Gumi couldn't tell, but what she _did_ know was that this was such a _boring_ game. By sticking to (what she called) the rules of this game and playing fair, there would be less trouble later on if anything were to go wrong. Hopefully, things wouldn't go wrong, of course, but you can never be too careful.

"Looks like your brother won't help you now," Gumi said bluntly.

"Len… Len isn't like th-that," Rin managed to mumble in between sobs.

With a scathing laugh, Gumi suddenly stood up, knocking her chair over and shouted, "How would _you_ know? A person who hasn't been loved doesn't know how to love. You think he loves you? You think he cares? You think he gives a _shit_ about what happens to anyone except _himself_?"

"And how would _you_ know what Len's like?" Rin fired back in defence. "He's my brother, and–"

"And what? I've known him for much longer than you have, missy."

"I grew up with him!"

"Really? How long did your childhood together last before he was booted off to go live in an orphanage instead?" Gumi didn't give Rin a chance to reply and carried on talking in a rage. "Have you any idea what has happened because of _him_? Has he ever told you what he did in the years that you've been apart? Do you know what rules he lives by? He's only loyal to two people: his _Master_ and _himself_. He doesn't care about anyone else. You've seen for yourself how convincing his little _acts_ are. How do you know he truly cares about _you_? You mean nothing to him. _Nothing_ means anything to that cold bastard."

By the end of all that Rin was rendered completely speechless. Worst of all, she doubted. She began to doubt whether Len cared for her or not. Surely he must? Why else would he put up with her for so long? They had lived happily together for some time now and he had shown no sign of hatred. But then, what Gumi had said was right: Len hadn't said anything about his past after the orphanage and before he had met with Rin again. It was true that he could remember very little of their childhood together but he definitely knew what had happened during his time with the Organisation. Why didn't he tell her?

_Is he still lying to me?_ Rin frowned as tears stung her eyes. _Why doesn't he ever tell me anything? What is there to hide from me?_

Slightly calmer now, Gumi went over to Gakupo and stood beside him, lying her head on his shoulder. The samurai opened his eyes slowly, took in the scene before him, and closed them again. He wasn't interested in things like this. The path he was taking may be a long and arduous one, but at the end of it, sweet revenge awaited him. Both he and the green-haired girl wanted revenge. They would stop at nothing to get what they wanted and they would do no matter what. Even so, Gumi had insisted on playing 'fair' and using… simpler and more _tedious_ methods which weren't imaginative in the slightest.

Although they had to change their original plan slightly due to an interesting turn in events, the ending would still be the same. They had both spent a long time preparing their revenge strike. Nothing will go wrong. Mistakes could not be allowed. Things that could be perfected had been, and the rest had to go according to luck and fortune. Gakupo didn't like having elements out of his immediate control, but there was no other option.

Time trickled by. The outside sky began to darken and darken until it was pitch-black. Stars shone in the night and the moon glowed, but they were nothing more than distant lights, small gears in the making of the giant universe. In the same way, humans are insignificant, and the strong come out on top. It's the survival of the fittest where the weak are treated as pawns in the rulers' games.

After much debating with herself, Rin finally managed to pluck up the courage to say, "Please… could you untie me?"

Gumi glanced at her sharply and snapped, "Of course not. What do you take us for?"

"What do you want with me anyway?" the blonde girl asked, exasperated.

"It would be better if you didn't ask, stupid girl," grumbled the green-haired girl.

Gakupo simply stood there and sighed. He laid his hand on the hilt of his katana, as if to give a warning. After that, Rin stayed quiet.

Gumi turned to her male accomplice and commented, "I'm bored."

"Patience is the key," came the answer. "There's not long left. Just be –"

Suddenly, there was an almighty _CRASH_ as the unctuous windows all smashed simultaneously and a figure clad in black swung in, landing gracefully on the ground. It stood up carefully and threw its hood back.

Rin gave a cry of joy and sighed with relief as she recognised the face before them. Gumi gave an irritated _tch_ as Gakupo stepped in front, unsheathing his weapon. His face was as impassive as usual.

"Fancy seeing you here, dog," spat Gumi, her voice dripping with hatred. She glared at Len with emerald eyes and the boy in question glowered back just as fiercely with an icy expression, pointing a handgun at her and holding it steadily in his left hand.

The blond boy didn't reply. That puzzled Rin. Usually, he would counter with defiance, saying that he wasn't a dog. Maybe he was just too angry to talk. However, there was something… strange about him apart from not arguing back. Rin saw Len, but this was not the Len she knew as her brother. This wasn't the same boy from a few days ago; he had changed.

Perhaps it was that he was dressed all in black, just like when he perched on the windowsill that moonlit night as she was about to be taken back by her father. Perhaps it was that his expression reminded her of someone who didn't know how to laugh or smile. Or perhaps it was because his eyes were so awfully cold and emotionless, with not a single scrap of warmth or kindness in them. No matter what, this wasn't the Len she knew.

"What are you doing here, dog?"

"Orders from my Master." Len's voice didn't belong to him. No. It was so emotionless and detached… it couldn't have belonged to a human.

"Heh. Thought as much. Damn that Shion," muttered Gumi. "On another note, Len… do you remember us?"

The boy paused for a moment before answering, "Yes. And I'd very much like to kill you both, though Master Shion wouldn't be very happy if I did."

There and then, Rin butted in, sick of being ignored, "Len! How do you know those people? And how many times have I told you to stop killing? More importantly, what about me? Hey! Don't you dare just ignore me like that!"

Len didn't so much as gift her with a glance. Not taking his eyes off his green-haired target, he threatened, "Shut up or I'll shoot."

"Len… what's gotten into you? You're not normally like this," whispered Rin, confused.

Gumi chewed her lip. This wasn't in the plan, nor was it in the backup plans. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen. In that case…

She nudged Gakupo. They exchanged glances and he nodded. In one swift stride, he stood behind Rin, cut her ropes and hoisted her up onto his shoulder, carrying her by the waist. The blonde girl kicked and yelled, but all to no avail. She tried in vain to break loose from the samurai's grip. "Len! Aren't you gonna help me?"

When there was no reply, Gumi at last realised what had happened. A satisfied smirk spread across her face. With a laugh, she teased Len, "Have you had a fall-out? Heh. You're not just a dog any more are you?"

She took a step forwards, knowing the boy wouldn't actually shoot now.

"What are you talking about?" Rin shouted.

Gumi threw her a sidelong glance and carried on frostily, "He's a broken dog. A dog that's been abandoned once again." She smiled at Len: "You are, aren't you?"

Again, the boy didn't reply. With a sigh, he put away his gun in the folds of his clothes.

"Are you giving up, Len?" demanded Rin. What was wrong with him? "Some brother you are! Aren't you gonna help me here? Were you lying when you said you loved me? Were you lying when you said you'd look after _your sister_?"

For a brief second, something flashed across Len's blue eyes, but all that passed very quickly. He took on a sad air and said quietly, "Master Shion was right. Love only hurts."

Surprised expressions appeared on all of the others' faces.

"What? Len! What are you doing? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Rin's sudden outburst only earned her a knock to the back of her head from Gakupo, causing her to fall unconscious. At the same time, another gun slipped out from underneath her loose top. She had taken it from Len's room this morning after getting changed to go out shopping at the Andales. She wasn't entirely stupid. She had her suspicions. But now… she was completely helpless.

Len went forwards to claim his weapon back. Effortlessly, he kicked the gun vertically up into the air and caught it in his hand. With that, he turned around and glared at Gumi.

"Why did you come here, boy?" challenged the older girl.

"To get my gun back."

"I'm pretty sure there's another reason."

"Not at all." He leaped up back through the window. Before he disappeared, he peered back through the broken glass and sneered, "Oh, and the next time we meet, I don't think I'd be able to resist firing a bullet into your head."

That left Gumi and Gakupo (carrying an unconscious Rin) in the warehouse, bemused. What was wrong with that boy? Seriously. Now that this had happened, would their revenge plan work properly? What if it didn't?

Subconsciously, Gumi lifted her hand to her head. She didn't fancy a bullet in there any time soon. And she was pretty sure Gakupo felt the same way.


	17. Past

Hello again. I'm alive, which is a good start. Sorry for the lack of activity on this site - I've had exams and writer's blocks and whatnots.

So yay, a new chapter! Unfortunately, it's insanely long, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. The writing style probably changes countless times throughout since I wrote it on a number of different days. I know I've not explained every little detail in this chapter - I hope to do so in a mini special chapter. And in case you don't guess (because of my pathetic and varying literary skill) the _italic_ bits are flashbacks.

Introduction finished. Over and out.

Enjoy!

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha etc.

* * *

Past

"I hate that guy. Who does he think he is? Even now…"

Gakupo listened in silence to Gumi's complaints. The green-haired girl sighed. Won't he _ever_ talk again? But more than that, she missed his smiling face and that youthful purple fire in his eyes. It had been extinguished long ago, back when they were mere children who knew nothing of the harshness of reality. And whose fault was it that Gakupo should lose his cheerfulness forever? Of course, it was that blond _bastard's_ fault – he was the one who destroyed everything.

"I'm glad we've broken him, though," she whispered, staring up into the night sky. In front of them was the tall building which served as the headquarters for the Organisation. Their plan was almost complete. All that remained after completing it was to catch the prey using the bait. Luckily, they knew all the ins and outs of this building and took careful note of the security and traps. It was easy once you knew how.

Gumi turned around to watch Gakupo pull up beside her, Rin hauled over his shoulder, although he took care not to hurt the girl too much. Honestly, he was still so kind to people. Gumi knew that she for one would not have been so kind and caring towards others. The only person who mattered to her now was Gakupo.

With a sour expression, Gumi poked Rin on the cheek. "Hey, what do you see in that dumbass anyway? What makes you like him so much?"

"What makes you hate him so much?" the blonde retaliated calmly. Rin tried to sound as unperturbed as possible. She had already decided that these people (that Miku had accidentally befriended) wouldn't let her go until they had done what they wanted with her. And that was the scary part – what _did_ they want?

"Why do I hate him?" repeated the older girl in a scathing voice. "I hate him because of everything he put us through! I hate him because he's a selfish, obnoxious, thieving imbecile! He deserves nothing better than death!"

At that point, Gakupo placed his free hand gently on Gumi's shaking shoulder, instantly comforting the furious girl. He had always been able to soothe her in that way, even when they were little. He was able to reason with anyone and everyone, tactfully and easily, and he always had this certain air of… _likeableness_ about him.

But that was when they were little… all those years ago. It seemed as if centuries had passed since then. Times were different now. And so was Gakupo…

...

_"Big sister! Big sister! Come over here! Look what we've found!"_

_With a sigh, Gumi made her way over to where her younger sisters were standing in a small circle. She stood over them all and saw the fluffy white rabbit shaking in the middle of the circle of feet. Picking up the poor thing, the green-haired 'big sister' walked back over to their old-fashioned, Japanese-styled house, her sisters following behind in a long train consisting of five younger girls, all with the same shade of bright green hair._

_"Big sister, is it gonna be okay?"_

_"Is it hurt?"_

_"Shall we tell Mummy and Daddy?"_

_"It's really cute!"_

_"Is it going to die?"_

_Although such questions at rapid-fire would have driven any right-minded sister insane, Gumi was all too much used to it and simply smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Rabbit will be fine. Big brother will help it to get better, so don't worry, okay?"_

_The five young girls, not one of them half the height of their big sister, gave a small cheer and one of them clapped gleefully, relieved that the small little bunny rabbit that they had found would be alright. Big brother was very good with animals, especially the smaller animals, and he was always so kind and gentle towards them when healing their wounds._

_They found him out in the back yard with a wooden katana, panting as he faced off a man about twice his age and many more times his height. The girls stood patiently on the walkway, in awe at the ongoing battle. The young boy's waist-length purple hair was tied back and flowed like a river as he moved, dodging and parrying blows from the older, sterner-looking man. _

_Grinning with amusement at the spectacle, the girls waited with baited breath for the outcome of the round, although it was obvious who the victor would be. Things like this were decided form the moment they began; the moment the old, supposedly-experienced man had had Gakupo chosen as his opponent, his fate had been decided. And according to Fate, he would lose. And lose he did._

_The man had tried to block the boy's onslaught by holding his own wooden katana horizontally above his head as the boy delivered his strike. But what happened following the ear-splitting CRACK of splintering wood almost scared the old man to death. He dropped the two halves of his wooden toy sword and barely dared to breathe as he stood immobilised, the younger boy's katana barely a millimetre from his face. If this had been a real fight or had they been wielding real weapons, chances were, the man would have been dead._

_Gakupo closed his eyes briefly and exhaled. Upon opening his eyes again, he lowered his weapon carefully, and held it by his waist. Then, following tradition, he bowed respectfully to his opponent, who was still shaking with the shock of it all. The young boy happened to glance in the direction where the girls were standing and smiled his timid little smile as Gumi waved. His deep purple eyes sparkled with life and elation. Any other time, he would have run straight over to where his adopted sisters stood, but he was still training today and could not leave until the master, his foster father, would allow it._

_Gumi remembered the day her father had brought Gakupo home. Back then, he was a rough youth with a hard background, disowned by his own parents for reasons he had never mentioned. Gumi's parents had had many children, but they were all girls. Coming from a traditional samurai lineage, her father had dictated that he would have to have a male heir to which he would pass on the family heirloom and tradition._

_At first, the choice to choose a coarse orphan was a strange decision, but it turned out that the boy was a genius, having a one-of-a-kind talent and ability to control a sword. He was perhaps the most skilled in the world in wielding one sword and was not incompetent at manipulating two either. This was a natural talent that he had and a natural talent which had been honed by the expertise of Gumi's father and sharpened and improved until it became the most dangerous thing any swordsman would ever face._

_Gakupo himself enjoyed his training and worked extremely hard all the time, never giving up and never submitting to defeat. His uncouthness had long gone and had been replaced by such a level of politeness and gentility that even the finest and most highborn of gentlemen were not able to match it._

_And so it was that Gakupo came to join their big family, the only member to not have green hair. Although this drew a lot of questions and insults towards the poor boy, he always answered calmly and tactfully, in a way so that he easily got his point across without objection and the other would not be offended. Such manners had been taught to him mainly by Gumi's mother, a kind and caring woman. The young boy was treated as a big brother amongst the girls. He was two years older than Gumi, but acted a lot more mature for his age than most boys did._

_Later on in the day, when his training had finished, Gakupo sought out his sisters. They showed him the injured rabbit with worried faces, but he assured them that it would be fine. He ushered the younger ones out of the room, leaving himself alone with Gumi. Together, they talked about trivial things whilst she helped him with cleaning the bunny's wounds and bandaging it up again. Animals loved the boy, at least, more so than they loved her. Either way, Gumi didn't mind._

_As she watched Gakupo neatly tie up the bandage, she noticed that glimmer of happiness in his deep purple eyes. They had been there from the day she had first talked to him. Always, always, he had such a happy, calm and gentle expression. His smile was shy and modest and his personality was warm and loving. No wonder all the girls came to watch him whenever he participated in the local festivities and sword events. And even more came to watch his elegant sword-dancing performances. They didn't come for the other participants – they came for him._

_Well, at least that meant he was popular. With a stretch, Gumi stood up and followed Gakupo as they took the little rabbit back outside to show the younger ones. For the next few days, they took care of the animal and helped it to recover. When the time came for it to be released back into the wild, they held a mini goodbye ceremony in which the younger sisters actually cried as they bid farewell to the fluffy white rabbit._

...

"I don't care about rabbits!" yelled Rin.

"Well you should care, girly, 'cos Gakupo's real nice to them," shot back Gumi as if that were a valid argument. The man in question appeared to be taking a quick nap on a sofa.

Inside the headquarters, it was pitch-black, and as the three sat down in wait for a certain someone, Rin was getting awfully restless. Where was Len? Surely he couldn't have just _left her_? He did sound quite… cold before. Perhaps he just needed some time off, alone. But what if… what if he didn't come back? After all, there's a limit to how much a human being could be hurt. And he was a human being with feelings, just like the rest of them.

Still! He didn't even _listen_. If he was hurt because of what he heard over the phone, then there was some explaining to do. Rin had seen how much pain he held in those blue eyes of his and she pitied him. She didn't want him to hate her. What if he did? What if there was no going back?

_But it wasn't even my fault!_ Rin scowled at the floor. It hadn't been her talking on the phone – it was the green-haired bitch. She'd used some voice-changing device and the memory on Rin's phone in order to replicate Rin's voice. Admittedly, that was quite clever, but now, because of _her_ everything was falling apart again. Len had to understand that those insults were nothing but lies! All that time, Rin had been crying, tied up on a chair, close to giving up on life. But now, her nerves were steeled.

Perhaps it _was_ slightly her fault. After all, Rin _was_ in a mood with her brother and _did_ tell Miku to pass on her vaguely insulting message. But that was a joke. He would have known it was a joke… right?

"Listen when people are talking!" Gumi shouted sharply, poking Rin on the cheek. "Did you hear a word of what I just said?"

"N-no. Sorry," stammered the blonde. She had been too busy thinking about Len. How was he now? Was he okay?

"I said that I'm telling you the rest of the story. So listen. And then you'll understand why I hate your impudent twin so much."

...

_Crying. Shouting. Fighting. Why couldn't it all just stop?_

_Gumi held on to her youngest sister as the girl cried her eyes out. The rest of them were hiding behind her, clinging tightly onto her clothes. They were all crying, some harder than others, but Gumi tried her best to keep those tears from falling. She was scared – more scared than the rest of her siblings – but she had to keep her composure for everyone's sake._

_"The answer is no." Her father was talking to some strange men. They had just barged into their house, wrecking everything, shattering the ceramic pots and upturning furniture and slashing tapestries. They were all wearing suits and were dark-haired, armed with handguns. As intimidating as they were, Gumi's father managed to keep a calm outer façade, not showing the slightest hint of fear. Courage is the mastery of fear, and Father had an awful lot of courage._

_Minutes passed and the argument got more heated, turning into a debate then a war with words. One of the strange men threatened to shoot. Still, the answer was a firm 'no'. But no what?_

_Just that moment, a door slid open and Gakupo stepped into the room with wide eyes and an expression of shock. "Father… what's going on?"_

_The suited men turned around and grinned slyly. Before they had the chance to take action, Gumi's father barked an order that was not to be ignored. That one word made all the difference… at least, in the short term._

_"Run!"_

...

Looking back, perhaps it was a stupid thing to have done. After all, it didn't really make that much of a difference in the long term. What would have happened if they hadn't ran at that moment in time? Would they have escaped? Maybe things would have turned out better? If they hadn't run away, maybe… just maybe two less lives would have been lost.

Gumi shook her head and mocked herself with a scornful laugh. Now wasn't the time to think about the past. There wasn't anything that could be done now to change it anyway. Back then they had just been two young children, naïve and scared, listening obediently to a father's commands. Even so…

"So what were the men all about?" butted in Rin quite indelicately.

"Can't you see I'm having a moment of reminiscence here?" shouted Gumi. Suddenly, her vision blurred. Her heart felt heavy with grief. Finally, the tears fell, tears which had been held back for years and years. Angrily, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and gave a defiant sniff. Seeing this, Gakupo silently moved over and embraced his sister. He didn't say anything, but those warm purple eyes were all that Gumi needed to be comforted once more. They were so expressive sometimes… like now. Those eyes pitied her somewhat and seemed to say: _"It's not your fault"_.

"Of course it's my fault, you idiot!" wept Gumi bitterly. If only she hadn't taken his hand and ran back then. If only they had stayed. Then perhaps Mother and Father wouldn't have had to die.

"It was my fault." For the first time in a long time, Gakupo had said something, although he only spoke loud enough for his dear sister to hear. His hands were shaking as he hugged her tighter. he carried on quietly in a wavering voice, "If I hadn't run back then… if I had stood and fought… or just given in… then nobody would have died because of my rashness and cowardice."

Awkwardly, Rin sat beside them, not too sure what to do. Was she meant to stay quiet? Instead, she took to looking round the room at all the dark shapes and shadows. The seconds ticked by, kept perfectly in time by an office clock on the wall. Twiddling her thumbs, Rin stole a glace to her left and saw her captors sitting beside each other on the sofa. Hesitantly, she said, "Um… so you were saying…"

Gumi turned to face the blonde and blinked. "Oh, yeah." Something felt different. For now, it felt as if she were telling a story to her younger sisters. Strange. Why couldn't she hate this stupid girl? Only a few moments ago… why had things suddenly changed?

"The men…?" prompted Rin, curious to hear the rest of the tale.

"Scrap the men. I was gonna tell you why I hate that brother of yours."

"Did he lie to you?" whispered Rin. After all, that's why she was angry with him in the first place. If she hadn't been so angry, then she wouldn't have wanted to go off with Gumi and Gakupo for some shopping trip and then she might not have ended up in this mess. She bit her lip and furrowed her brow. There was no use regretting anything now. If he had lied, he had lied; if she had got into trouble, she had got into trouble… and a big mess.

"Did he lie to me? What sort of a suggestion is that?" Gumi laughed scornfully. "Why would I care if he'd lied? No. He did worse than that. He betrayed us. Then we had to carry the blame for failure. When we were ambushed, he decided to save his own worthless life and leave us. When we were blamed for this and that, he stood out of sight and didn't give a shit about us, even though we'd saved his skin twice before. And then… afterwards…"

"Five years ago," said Gakupo emotionlessly. His speaking surprised Gumi and even more so when he continued: "Five years ago, he murdered five innocent bystanders. He shot them down, one by one, oldest to youngest. Such a cruel action, especially since the poor five girls were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. They did nothing to deserve such a terrible fate. And yet, he was kind enough to end each one's life in a painless, instant way. One could argue that both sides balance each other out, but Gumi and I will never forgive him for such an act. There was no reason to kill our guiltless sisters."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" stammered Rin, struggling for words.

"We're saying that he killed our sisters!" yelled Gumi impatiently. "Honestly, there's a limit to how dense you can be, you know."

"Len would never do such a thing!" insisted the blonde, defending her brother. "He's kind and caring and he wouldn't _ever_ just go and shoot innocents for no reason! You must have made a mistake. Surely –"

"What would _you_ know?" countered Gumi. "The person he was is different to the person he is now. In some ways, he hasn't even changed a bit. For example, he's still as bratty and cold as he always was. You think he's being kind because he wants to be? He's only putting on a show for _your_ sake. Tell me, how can you trust him? How often has he lied to you? Or rather, how often has he told you the truth?"

Following this, Rin was rendered speechless. It was stupid. Why didn't she have anything to fight back with? Maybe it was because everything Gumi had said was true. Stubbornly, Rin shook her head. _No!_ She refused to take that for an answer.

Suddenly, the door opened. At the same instant, Gakupo unsheathed his katana and stationed himself by the entrance. An unwary man with inky-blue hair strolled in and only paused after taking a couple of steps. He frowned as he saw the visitors in his office. The point of the katana was aimed at the middle of his spine.

"Long time no see, Master Shion," grumbled Gumi, her green eyes frosty.

"Nice to see you too… you two…" came the answer. The Master laughed to himself, pleased with his little joke. Rin stared unbelievingly at this man. Was this person the head of the Organisation? He looked like such an… airhead. "So what are you guys doing in my office at this unruly time of night?"

"Playing a game of chess with your pet dog."

"Eh? I have a dog?" the man stared at Gumi with an expression of genuine confusion.

Rin sighed. Was this man _really_ the head of a top-secret, treacherous organisation? As Gumi had said to her not too long ago, there was a limit to how dense a person could be.

"Oh! I see!" said the Master with a self-satisfied grin. "You mean Len, don't you?"

"Yeah, although we've broken him, so chances are, he'll give up and admit defeat. Or perhaps he won't even care anymore. A broken dog is better off dead."

Master Shion shrugged and sat himself down onto the sofa beside Rin, loosening his tie. With a smirk, he spoke in a soft yet dangerous voice, "Well, let me tell you a little secret. You think you have me now? Well, maybe you have. But you guys have only managed to call check. The person to call the final checkmate will, of course, be my cute little Len."


	18. Future

New chapterrrrr. Okey, so I've been kinda busy catching up with anime and manga and playing computer games and so got a tad bit distracted... meaning there might be some... _inconsistencies _in this chapter. Too lazy currently to proofread... /hit. Well, at least I enjoyed writing it! Now I should work on my other fanfic... (shameless advertising there /doublehit).

So yeah, I've run out of things to say now. Enjoy! (and tell me if there are some mistakes with the details please... I'll fix them)

Vocaloid (c) Yamaha

* * *

Future

Why was such a simple thing becoming so awfully complicated? Why was it getting so hard to think straight? Why was constructing a plan becoming so difficult?

Len laid his head on the glass table on which lay an assortment of maps and floor plans of the Organisation headquarters. Pieces of paper were scrunched up and littered the floor. More covered the carpets and the rest of the table, filled with incomprehensible numbers and probabilities, names and details or frustrated scribbles. A cup of coffee was on the floor beside him, half-finished, cold and now ignored.

Worriedly, Miku loitered in the doorway at a distance, afraid to disturb the blond in his time of frustration. Wait… did that mean she was being considerate towards him? With a frown, she shook her head and decided the first thing she would do after all this was over was to torment and taunt him. But now really wasn't the time.

She remembered clearly how Len had come back, clothed in black, with the coldest expression ever. But with that coldness, she could tell there were also feelings of anxiety, sadness and fear mixed in. He had thrown everything on the floor and stormed up the stairs, much like how he did when Rin had gone 'shopping' with Gumi and Gakupo when he had come back from a talk with Master Shion. Miku had heard spine-chilling crashes and smashing upstairs and irregular cries of aggravation or pain. Despite her _light_ hatred towards the boy, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.

Out of pity, she had offered him leftover food from dinner but he refused with an angry grunt. He continued the din for over an hour and it wasn't until past midnight that things had quietened down all of a sudden. For over fifteen minutes, there was complete silence and after half an hour of the same silence, Miku had begun to worry. Plucking up the courage, she'd shouted to him from the bottom of the flight of stairs leading to his floor, "Are you still alive up there?"

There had been no sound for some time, but as she began to dread the worst, she heard a faint reply, "Just about."

At that point, Len's depressed figure had trundled weakly down the stairs. His hair was a mess; his eyes were dark; his shirt was torn and dirty. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Nothing," replied the girl, careful not to let her voice waver with the fear he now imposed, "Just checking if you were actually still alive."

"So you were worried about the great and wonderful me?" the blond sneered. Realising he was fooling nobody but himself, he glanced to the side and mumbled, "Nobody would really care if I wasn't anyway." With a self-mocking laugh, he continued in a quieter voice, "What the hell's wrong with me?"

Miku shrugged and, half-smiling, instantly responded with, "Everything?"

Luckily for Miku, instead of retorting with a harsh remark, Len had smiled weakly and leaned against the wall. After that, she had encouraged him to do something. After all, if he had the time and energy to spend venting out his frustration upstairs, he may as well do something useful and try to change the situation.

And so now, Len sat grumbling to himself by the paper-covered table as Miku stood quietly in the doorway. What had prompted her to try to motivate him? Why did he listen and take on board what she had said? Neither of them knew, but it seemed that a temporary truce had formed between the warring teenagers.

Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten as dawn approached. With a yawn, Miku strolled into the living room and sat on an unoccupied sofa. Having not slept at all last night, the two of them were tired and yet refused to rest. She rubbed her eyes and said, "You alright, Blondie?"

Len didn't reply. Instead, he continued muttering to himself: "…so if I enter here… no, that won't work… what about… not there either. They'll definitely have cameras here, 100% sure… and here… depends whether patrol has changed… but won't they be knocked out anyway? Maybe, then… wait, but what if they're not? Chances are…" he clacked the keys on a calculator and checked a piece of paper, "34.33% chance they're not… is that alright to risk? Bearing in mind, there's also a 97.41% chance that… wait."

He glanced up and locked eyes with the girl lounging about on the sofa, saying nothing.

"Wh-what?" stammered Miku.

No reply.

With a nervous laugh, Miku tried to lighten the mood a bit. "What are you doing anyway? Being a fortune teller?"

Frowning ever so slightly, Len answered seriously, "Perhaps that's a good way to put it. In any case, I'm trying to… ah, 'predict the future', if you like." He continued to stare at Miku as if he had no idea who she was.

Getting increasingly annoyed, the girl complained, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Len paused before finally saying, "What if Master Shion hasn't been captured in the first place? Then why the hell am I doing all this crap?"

"Um, hello? Rin, remember? She got involved somewhere along the line too."

"And I think that was your fault for making… _friends_. Why should I take responsibility? You go get her back. I'm sure your mere presence will be enough to scare anyone off."

"I think that's _your_ responsibility as her older _brother_ to get her back."

The blond shrugged. "What difference does a blood relation make?"

Miku stood up, moved to the opposite end of the table and sat down on the carpet. She stared straight into Len's eyes and carefully explained, "Having a relation by blood makes _all_ the difference, Len. It means that you are her brother and it also means that no matter how annoying she has been, or is, and no matter what she had said to offend or disappoint or piss you off, you forgive her. Because she's _your_ sister."

Len's expression didn't change one bit. He stared coolly at the girl and took into account all that she had just said. With another shrug he fell onto his back and started at the white ceiling. Maybe they should paint that someday… but he liked it white. Closing his eyes, he tried to gather his thoughts and put them back on track.

Swinging his legs down, he sat back up and glared at the girl. "What if Rin's not with them?"

"Wh-what do you mean? I guess you'd presume that she would be, right?"

"Hmm, well _presuming_ isn't enough, girlie. In my business, you have to be 100% sure. Oh, that reminds me; I could check, couldn't I?" Lost in his own little world of scheming, Len left the room with a skip in his step and came back a couple of minutes later with his yellow laptop. He carelessly swept all the pieces of paper from the table onto the floor in a flurry of white and placed his laptop there instead. Lifting the lid, he turned his computer on with an air of flamboyance about his actions. Smiling, he double-clicked here and there and pressed the delicate keys of his keyboard.

"What'cha doing, Blondie?" asked Miku, moving around to peer over the boy's shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, _girlie_, I'm checking where Rin is." After a brief pause, a bird's-eye view of the city appeared, mapped out in simple grey and white blocks, much like what Google Earth gave in map view, rather than satellite view. In the centre was a white block, which was labelled as a local office, but Len knew better than that – of course, it was the Organisation's headquarters. And hovering over that building was a blinking orange dot. "Oh. So Rin is there after all."

"That's what I've been saying from the start!" sighed an exasperated Miku. "You just wanted to show off your fancy stuff, don't you?"

"Mmh hmm… But of course, we had to make sure."

"Wait, how did you get that on Rin in the first place?"

"Oh, shattering glass can be a nice distraction to cover blowdarts."

"But you'd need a blowgun, right?" frowned the girl. "And those are… big, to say the least."

"Not when you're me, you don't. Forget the blowgun. Just need the darts," grinned the boy smugly. "Now that question's out of the way, I need to know whether Master Shion has been taken hostage." His mood instantly darkened again. Again, he mumbled distractedly to himself whilst Miku watched and tried to listen in to the nonsense he was spouting.

The she came up with an idea. "Why don't you ring him?"

Len stared long and hard at her. He spoke slowly and in an agonisingly patronising way. "Are you stupid? What the hell? You think I could just _ring him_ and ask whether he's been taken hostage or not? Do you even realise what sort of a daft, idiotic and utterly _ridiculous_ idea that is?"

"Hey, I was just trying to help you know? Chill out…"

After a few seconds, he tilted his head to the side like a curious dog (he would have hated that description) and voiced his proposal instead. "I have a better idea. Now, where the hell did I put my phone?"

Scrambling around for a while, he almost knocked over the cup of coffee by his side. Triumphantly, he held up his black smartphone which was sitting happily in its yellow case. "Right, so… what would be the best thing to–" He stopped dead in his tracks.

Quietly, he turned his back to the girl and started typing a quick message and clicked 'send'. Miku debated whether to take a peek or not when there was a sudden gunshot. Instinctively, she squealed and ducked but Len just laughed. He laughed so hard, that he actually fell onto his back and clutched his stomach, rolling onto his side.

"Wh-what the…" Miku slowly sat back up.

"Pfft. That was just a ringtone, moron," Len managed to say in between bursts of laughter.

"The heck? Who has a _gunshot_ for their text message tone?"

"Well I do and that's the end of that." He read the message he'd just received. So far, he couldn't tell for definite whether Master Shion had been taken captive or not. Thus far, their conversation had been:

_Master Shion?_

_Yes, Len?_

Although… but maybe the Master was just being lazy with his texting today. And now Len had to send his Master something… simple perhaps. It couldn't be too obvious that he was experimenting to see whether the man had been taken hostage or not. But honestly, what sort of mastermind of a massive secret organisation gets easily captured like that? Len sighed – it only takes a bit of bribery with a bit of ice cream.

Len already had an idea of what to say next, but it was awfully embarrassing. He couldn't let that girl see. Not if he wanted to be able to face life and go out into public ever again. As quickly as possible, he inputted the four letters.

_Nyao._

Impatiently, he waited for a reply.

"Hey, Blondie, who are you texting?"

"None of your business."

"Wait, I bet you're texting your Master Shion, right? And you said calling him was a bad idea!" Miku began to make her way round to peer over Len's shoulder again. The boy backed off and frowned, grumbling to himself. Why couldn't whoever was on the other side give him a reply already?

"Come on, I wanna see!" whined the girl and got to her feet. In a handful of minutes, it ended up being a chase ad Len tried his very best to avoid the girl. His social life – no, _whole_ life, in fact – depended on this. If she saw what he had just texted, he'd never see the end of her teasing. Ever. Reluctantly, he climbed on top of the sofa and stood on the armrest, balancing perfectly on the thin, yet high, ledge it provided.

"No means no, dumbass." He couldn't even be bothered to think of suitable insults any more. _Come on!_ _Answer already!_

Suddenly, the gunshot sounded and Miku ducked, even though she knew it wasn't real. Instincts were useful things.

A smile spread across the blond's face as he read the reply.

_You're not my cat, Len. You're my dog._

...

"Are you sure that's the right answer?" Gumi asked. Her finger poised just above the send button.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I'd say," Master Shion grumbled.

"On your head, and life, be it." And the button was pressed.

"…exactly what I'd say if I had been taken hostage, that is," mumbled the man under his breath so nobody would hear. And he was quite sure that his cute little Len would be able to figure that out. _Oh, I'm so clever sometimes_, and Master Shion laughed to himself (again), much to the irritation of the other three in the room.


End file.
